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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 



3fuU feara 



BY 



MRS. WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT 




WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 



NEW YORK 

Into, Mtnb Sc (ttotttpattg 



1914 



Copyright, 1914 
By THE BUTTERICK PUBLISHING CO. 

Copyright, 1914 
By DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 






NOV II 1914 



• 






cs 



FOREWORD 



I wish to express my grateful acknowledgment to 
Eleanor Franklin Egan and my daughter for their valued 
assistance in the preparation for publication of these Recol- 
lections. 

Helen Herron Taft. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 



Introductory 1 

Cincinnati — City of Birth and Early Memories. Educa- 
tional and Musical Advantages. Childhood in Large 
Family on Moderate Income. Meeting Mr. Taft — Politi- 
cal Turmoil. First trip to Washington to visit President 
and Mrs. Hayes. Social Gaieties and Serious Under- 
takings. Engagement — Summer in the Adirondacks. 
Marriage— Trip Abroad. Mr. Taft's Father and Mother. 
First home — "Satisfactory though Mortgaged." 

CHAPTER II 

Cincinnati and Washington 21 

The Superior Court — First Doubt as to Desirability of 
Judicial Career. Mr. Taft's Embarrassing Truthfulness. 
My son Robert. Solicitor General — Move to Washington. 
Mr. William M. Evarts. Washington Society Twenty- 
five Years Ago. My Daughter Helen. The Federal 
Bench. Youngest Child. Tranquil Years. The Cincin- 
nati Orchestra. Spanish-American War — Results to the 
Taft Family. 

CHAPTER III 
To the Philippines 39 

The Second Philippine Commission. Army Transport 
Hancock. Honolulu. "Aloha Oe!" Yokohama. Mr. 
Taft in a Jinrikisha. His Size Interests the Japanese. 
Audience with the Emperor and Empress of Japan — A 
Question of Clothes. I Decide to Remain in Japan for 
the summer. The Hancock to Manila. 

CHAPTER IV 
In Japan 65 

Keeping House in Yokohama — In Quarantine with 
Measles. A Japanese Menage. Fascinating Oriental 
Sounds— Alluring Shops. First Letter from Mr. Taft. A 
bit of Philippine History. Miyanoshita — Japanese Inns — 
The Darkest Night. A Refugee from China— Boxer In- 
surrection. Joseph did not Commit Suicide; He was 
only Learning to Sing. More Letters. Mr. Bryan's Com- 
plicating Policy. To Manila^ 
vii 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 

First Impressions of Manila 9 1 

The China Sea. Manila Bay — Strange Scenes and 
Strange Peoples. First Home in Manila — "Getting Used" 
to my Environment. Seventy Thousand American Troops. 
General Arthur MacArthur — Social Coolness. Intrigue — 
Assassinations — Problems. Progress of Pacification. A 
Typhoon. American Presidential Campaign. Civil and 
Military Rule. September first — The Commission begins 
to Exercise Authority. 

CHAPTER VI 

A Strange Environment 118 

El costumbres del pais — Employes and Parientes. A 
Pair of Black Ponies — A Runaway — Filipino Coachmen. 
Charlie's Playmates. Shopping — Saloons. Manila Society. 
"He may be a brother of William H. Taft, but he ain't 
no friend of mine!'' A Filipino Call. Presents. Amer- 
ican Patriotism. Friars and Friars' Lands. A Mo- 
mentous Decision. 

CHAPTER VII 

" Days of the Empire 142 

Unrest and Uncertainty — Guerilla Warfare. Re-elec- 
tion of Mr. McKinley. Optimistic in the Face of Chaos. 
Christmas — Eighty in the Shade. A New Year's Recep- 
tion — Silk Hats and Frock Coats. The Federal Party and 
the Peace Movement — Washington's Birthday. First 
Visit to a Provincial Town. Establishment of Civil Gov- 
ernment. Mr. Taft First Civil Governor. 

CHAPTER VIII 

An Historic Trip 156 

Through the Southern Islands. Establishing Pro- 
vincial Governments. A Test of Endurance — Filipino 
Bands — lianquetes and Bailes — the Rigodon. Moroland. 
Aguinaldo — Colonel Frederick Funston of "the Suicide 
Squad." Zamboanga — Cottabato — the Gulf of Davao — 
Surigao — A Perilous Journey. Cebu. Sorsogon — A Riot 
of Hospitality. "The Sacred Torch of Liberty." 

CHAPTER IX 

Tin- Wiii) Men's Country 182 

Into Northern Luzon — the Wild Men's Country. A 
Spanish Steamer. General and Mrs. J. Franklin Bell. A 
Side Trip. Impedimenta and Military Discipline. An 
Amazing Summit. Where no White Woman ever was 
before Igorrotes — Human Skulls as House Decorations — 
Rice Teraces. Down a Long Trail. Baguio — Our $2,- 
500,000 Road. Necessity for Haste, 
viii 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER X 

Governor Taft 206 

The Inauguration of Governor Taft. Two Thousand 
Guests. Moving to Malacanan Palace — Social Activities. 
The Governor's Working Day. General Chaffee — Con- 
tinued Differences of Opinion. General Corbin. The 
Assassination of President McKinley — Dark Days. Mr. 
Taft and President Roosevelt. Balangiga. A Trip to 
China — Mr. Taft 111 — Hurried Return. Ordered Home 
on Leave — An Earthquake. We Sail on Christmas Eve. 

CHAPTER XI 
A Trip to Rome 233 

Some Unhappy Memories. Business in Washington — 
The Friar Lands Question. A Mission to Rome. Left 
Behind but Follow Shortly. Position and Character of 
Commission — Complications and Embarrassments. Cardi- 
nal Rampolla. Pope Leo XIII. A Brilliant Society. 
Vatican Politics. An Audience with the Pope. Vallom- 
brosa. Gifts from the Pope. Unfinished Negotiations — 
Mr. Taft to Manila. Switzerland. 

CHAPTER XII 
Last Days in the Philippines 251 

A Great Demonstration. Cholera — Rinderpest — Fam- 
ine — Turmoil. The Church Schism — Aglipay. Arch- 
bishop Guidi. Ladrones and Assassins. Taft declines 
the Supreme Bench — Mr. Roosevelt Insists — Popular Pro- 
test. A Letter from Mr. Roosevelt. Called to Washing- 
ton as Secretary of War. A Farewell Fete — The Doge 
of Venice and his Lady — Regretful Good-byes. 

CHAPTER XIII 

Secretary of War 274 

Contrasted Attitudes — Guests of a Nation and "Just 
Nobody." Settling down in Washington — Difficulties in 
living up to an Exalted Office — Life of a "Cabinet 
Lady." The Panama Canal — Trip to Panama. Mr. 
Taft, a Congressional Party and Miss Alice Roosevelt. 
Summer in England. Intervention in Cuba — "Those Aw- 
ful Twenty Days." 



CHAPTER XIV 
Busy Years 



"The Three Musketeers." A Political Campaign — the 
Rush of Life. The Supreme Bench again. A Presiden- 
tial "Boom." Mr. Taft not Interested. I misunderstand 
Mr. Roosevelt. Athos and Porthos. "Sitting on the Lid." 
Agitated Days. Growing Enthusiasm. Murray Bay. 
Starting Around the World — Yellowstone Park — A Sun- 
day game of Bridge. A Taste of Campaign Work. 



302 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XV 
A Hurried Trip Around the World 313 

Japan — Shanghai — Manila. Opening of the first Phil- 
ippine Assembly. Trips and Entertainments. Vladivo- 
stok. Across Siberia. Moscow — St. Petersburg — Berlin. 
A Shopping Expedition and a Perilous Night. The 
Steamship President Grant. Return to the United States. 
Nomination for the Presidency — Political Campaign — 
Election. 

CHAPTER XVI 

President of the United States 3 2 4 

The Evening of March Third, 1909. A Dinner Party 
at the White House. A Stormy Night. Washington 
Ice-bound and Isolated. "I always said it would be a 
cold day when I got to be President of the United States." 
The Inauguration. At Home in the White House — A 
Brief Inspection — The McKim Restoration. The In- 
augural Ball — A Brilliant Scene. "Aunt Delia." The 
End of the Greatest Day. 

CHAPTER XVII 
The White House 347 

Mistress of the White House — Domestic Responsibilities 
— Some Innovations. The White House staff — Furniture 
and Porcelains. The President's Hospitality. A Diplo- 
matic Tea. Forms and Precedents. My First Dinner 
Party. Various Entertainments. Potomac Drive. De- 
lightful Spring Evenings. The Charm of the Home of 
Presidents. A Passing Glimpse of Mental Pictures. 

CHAPTER XVIII 

Some White House Formalities 365 

A Long Illness. Garden Parties — The First Disappoint- 
ment — Subsequent Success. The Nation's Summer Capi- 
tal — A Question of Privacy — The Secret Service Men. 
The Washington Social Season. State Dinners and Re- 
ceptions. First Cabinet Dinner. The New Year's Re- 
ception. "Behind the line." Cutting down the Lists. 
The Diplomatic Reception and Dinner. Serving Re- 
freshments. Various Demands. 

CHAPTER XIX 
Conclusion 382 

Mr. Roosevelt Returns from Africa — Calls at Beverly 
— An Agreeable Meeting. A Cruise on the Mayflower. 
The President of Chili. A "Whirlwind" Existence. A 
Cabinet House Party. Fitting Charlie out in Long Trous- 
ers. Helen's Debut. Our Silver Wedding. Renomi- 
nation. Plans for a Quiet Future. An Expression from 
Mr. Taft. 

x 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Mrs. William Howard Taft Frontispiece 



FACING 
PAGE 



Mrs. Taft's childhood home on Pike Street, in Cincinnati . . 4 
Mr. and Mrs. John Williamson Herron, Mrs. Taft's father 

and mother 8 

Members of the salon. Mr. Taft in the centre with the au- 
thor at his right .12 

Mr. and Mrs. William Howard Taft at the time of their 

marriage !0 

Mrs. Taft with Robert and Helen, when Mr. Taft was 

Solicitor-General 2 6 

Charlie Taft when he went to the Philippines 36 

Nikko. An ancient cryptomeria avenue and a glimpse of the 

famous temples 5 2 

Entrance to the Imperial Palace gardens in Tokyo ... 56 
The State Dining-Room of the White House, showing tapestry 

presented to Mrs. Taft by the Empress of Japan ... 62 

Helen Taft in Japanese costume 7^ 

Mrs. Taft in formal Filipina costume 90 

A carved Nara or Philippine mahogany bed, now in Mr. Taft's 

room at New Haven 98 

A typical Philippine river scene and some Filipino laundry 

work 10 4 

{Left to right) General Wright, Mr. Taft and Judge Ide, as 

Philippine Commissioners 118 

A typical Filipino menu and place card 148 

Triumphal arch at Bataan 15 2 

Filipino members of the organising party enjoying afternoon 

repose on the deck of the Sumner 158 

The Sultan of Sulu boarding the Sumner, followed by Mr. 

Arthur Fergusson, Spanish secretary to the Commission . 166 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING 
PAGE 



A Moro datu with his retinue, and the favourite wife of a datu 

with her maids-in-waiting 170 

Picturesque bead bedecked Bogobos of the Davao country . .176 

Philippine non-Christians: A Bontoc Igorrote {top left)', a 

Moro and two Kalinga chiefs {with shields) .... 182 

On the long trail in Northern Luzon. Mrs. Taft second from 

the left 186 

Mr. Taft and Charlie enjoying their favourite exercise . . . 186 

An Igorrote Head Dance and a company of cargodores with 

their dogs which are to be killed for food 190 

Views of the extraordinary Igorrote rice terraces. Practically 

all of the wild men's country is cultivated in this manner . 192 

Igorrote chief proudly displaying his house decorations of hu- 
man skulls and carabao horns 196 

Bontoc Igorrotes with ganzas showing handles made of human 

jaw bones 196 

Benguet Road before and after completion. Not the most 

thrilling curve on this spectacular highway 200 

The Zigzag. How the Benguet Road climbs to an altitude of 

over 5,000 feet in six miles 204 

Mr. Taft taking the oath of office as first American Governor 

of the Philippine Islands 208 

Two views of Malacanan Palace. The first picture shows the 

wide, roofless veranda over the Pasig River . . . .214 

Scenes attending Governor Taft's arrival in Manila after his 

first absence 250 

Arch erected by the Partido Federal representing Filipina offer- 
ing another star to the American flag 258 

Mr. and Mrs. Taft with members of their family and staff in- 
cluding Major Noble, aide {at left), and Mr. Fred C. 
Carpenter, private secretary {right), in costumes worn at 
the Venetian Carnival 270 

Mr. Taft and Colonel Goethals, in Panama 290 

{From left to right) Mrs. Jaime de Veyra, Mrs. Taft, Gov- 
ernor Smith, Mrs. Smith, Mr. Taft, Mr. Sergio Osmena, 
Speaker of the Philippine Assembly, and members of the 
Assembly in the Ayuntamiento, Manila 312 

The White House as it looked on the evening of the Fourth 

of March, 1909 324 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACINC} 
PAGE 



Mr. and Mrs. Taft returning to the White House after Mr. 

Taft's inauguration 330 

The private dining-room of the White House, and the family 

sitting-room at the end of the long upstairs corridor . . 334 

Two White House bedrooms showing fine old colonial beds . 338 

Two corners of the White House kitchen 350 

The East Room 356 

Mrs. Taft on the Potomac Drive ... .... 360 

The south Portico from the end of the garden 364 

The White House garden and Washington's Monument from 

the south Portico 368 

The Taft cottage at Beverly, Massachusetts 372 

The crescent table in the State Dining-Room arranged for the 

Diplomatic Dinner 376 

Mrs. Taft's own picture of the White House 380 

The long eastern corridor through which guests arrive for 

state functions 388 

The main stairway leading to the President's private apart- 
ments 388 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

Cincinnati, the city of my birth and early memories, 
was, in the 'sixties, about as begrimed and noisy and alto- 
gether unattractive as any place well could be; yet it pos- 
sessed certain attributes which really entitled it to the proud 
designation of "The Queen City of the West." 

It was prosperous; it had hardly yet been surpassed in 
prosperity by Chicago; Cleveland was not even spoken of 
as a rival; and in many ways it was the most important 
centre west of New York and east of the Mississippi. 

It owed its early development principally to its advan- 
tageous location. It lay on the great central route from 
the East to the West, which runs from Baltimore and Wash- 
ington to Cumberland and over the Alleghenies to Pitts- 
burg, thence by the Ohio River to Cincinnati and on west to 
St. Louis and south to New Orleans. It had an important 
trade with New Orleans and drew commerce from a large 
territory to the north. But whatever else may be said of 
it, its most devoted citizen could not claim that Cincinnati 
was beautiful. Its buildings were unlovely; its streets 
were badly paved and as badly kept; and it lay under a 
pall of soft coal smoke which left its sooty mark upon every- 
thing — inhabitants included. 

Yet, ugly as it was, the city boasted an unusual society. 
During the first half of the nineteenth century many young 
men of good stock and great ability, drawn by the promise 
of rapid advancement, had moved to Cincinnati from all 
parts of the East and South; New Jersey, New England, 
Virginia and Kentucky contributing, perhaps, the greatest 
number. There were many families of wealth and cul- 
ture which, without parade or display, maintained fine 
homes and dispensed a generous hospitality. The suburbs, 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

East Walnut Hills, Mt. Auburn and Clifton, on the heights 
to the north and east, were famous for their beautiful coun- 
try places. 

Then there was a large population of the best class of 
Germans, many of whom were university men who left 
their own country after the Revolution of 1848 and came 
to Cincinnati to settle. Of these, Frederick Hassaurek, 
General Willich and Judge Stallo, who came to Cincinnati 
when Carl Schurz went to St. Louis, are perhaps the most 
prominent. The German influence upon the community 
was marked. It made for a more liberal Sunday ; it brought 
the study of German into the public schools; and it devel- 
oped a strong taste for good music. Indeed, the musical 
ail vantages of Cincinnati in my girlhood were better than 
those of any city in the United States, with the ex- 
ception of New York or Boston. Theodore Thomas was 
president of the Conservatory of Music and he organised 
a symphony orchestra which he continued to direct until 
he went to Chicago along about 1890. 

Cincinnati in those days, with her educated, wealthy 
and public-spirited society, was much in advance of any 
other city in the Mississippi Valley in culture and refine- 
ment. There was great interest in schools of all sorts and 
in every kind of intellectual activity. Away back in 1848 
the Literary Club of Cincinnati was formed by a company 
of men among whom were both Mr. Taft's father and mine, 
as well as Rutherford B. Hayes, Stanley Matthews, Man- 
ning F. Force and Mr. SpofFord, later Librarian of Con- 
gress. This club continues to be a cherished institution and 
in my girlhood it was the centre of all interest in literature 
and intellectual pursuits. 

My father, John Williamson Herron, was a graduate of 
Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, and was in college with 
Benjamin Harrison. He was for fifty years a trustee of 
that institution and was devoted to its interests. My hus- 

2 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

band's father, Judge Alphonso Taft, was one of the Yale 
class of 1833, was for many years a member of the Yale 
Corporation, and had five sons who graduated at that uni- 
versity. My mother's brother, Judge Isaac Clinton Collins, 
and one of my two brothers also graduated at Yale, while 
my other brother graduated at Harvard, so it will be seen 
that both my husband and I grew up in the midst of strong 
collegiate traditions. 

To write about one's childhood is not easy. Memories 
by the score come flocking up, but, dear as they are, upon 
examination they turn out to be quite commonplace and 
hardly worth relating. My memories are not sufficiently 
"early" to have any special value. The first thing that I 
dimly remember is sitting on the front steps of my home 
watching some sort of parade in which there were many 
soldiers, but I was too young then to know that it was a 
peace celebration I was witnessing at the close of the Civil 
War. 

My father was a lawyer who came to the bar of Ohio 
in the 'forties. He was United States Attorney under Presi- 
dent Harrison, was a State Senator, and twice declined 
appointments to the Bench because the salary attached to 
these positions was not enough to support his large family. 
I was the fourth in a family of eleven, eight girls and three 
boys. One boy and two girls died before I can remember. 

Our house was one of a block of grey brick houses in 
Pike Street, at the east end of Cincinnati, which, at that 
time, was the fashionable residence section of the city. 
Pike Street runs down to the river on a rather steep incline 
and, as it was paved with cobblestones, my early memories 
are somewhat marred by an impression of the frequent 
clatter and clang of heavy wagons pulling their way up 
the hill from the river landing. 

While our house was not particularly distinguished, being 
much like those on either side of it, across the street from 

3 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

us there were two very striking and imposing residences 
which lent distinction to the neighbourhood, and in which, 
as I grew up, were formed the pleasantest associations of 
my life. The one directly opposite was a large, square, 
red brick house which had an air of great dignity. It was 
the home of Mr. Larz Anderson. There were ten boys in 
the Anderson family and, though they were all much older 
than I and most of them had gone away before I grew up, 
I remember that it was a very lively household always. In 
my later girlhood we were specially linked to this family 
by the marriage of one of the boys, Charles, to my sister 
Jennie. 

The house next to Mr. Anderson's, on the north, I knew 
as the Sinton home. A low, colonial structure, well set 
in a garden of green lawns and finely kept shrubbery, it is 
still one of the most beautiful residences in Cincinnati, and, 
indeed, in the whole country. Its architecture suggests that 
of the White House and it was, as a matter of fact, de- 
signed by the same architect, an Irishman named Hoban. 
The Sinton house is lower than the White House, being 
only one story high with a basement, but it has the same 
classic outlines and it bears, moreover, the stamp of time, 
which gives it a character all its own. 

It was built about 1800 by a Mr. Martin Baum, but was 
purchased by the first Nicholas Longworth in the early part 
of the century and was the home of the Longworth family 
for a generation. Long before I can remember, it was 
bought by Mr. David Sinton, one of the most successful 
business men in Ohio, and to me it was always the Sinton 
home. When I was about twelve years old, Mr. Sinton's 
daughter Annie married my husband's brother, Charles P. 
Taft, and as they have always lived in this old house it has 
come to be known, since Mr. Sinton's death in 1901, as the 
Taft house. It is the only Taft house in Cincinnati now, 
the house where my husband was born having been sold 

4 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

after his father's death, and it has been the scene of many 
of the most important events of my life. It was there that 
my husband received the announcement of his nomination 
for the Presidency; it was there, in front of the house, that 
he made his speech of acceptance; and it was there that 
Charles Taft gathered a large party of friends on the night 
of November 6, 1908, to receive with us the election re- 
turns. And it is now to this house, where my husband's 
brother Charles and his wife dispense a generous hospitality, 
that we always go when we return to Cincinnati. 

My girlhood days were spent quite placidly in Miss 
Nourse's school, which was known in Cincinnati as "The 
Nursery," and where all the girls of the Herron family, 
as well as Mr. Taft's only sister, Fanny, received their 
education. Miss Nourse was a Maine woman with a thor- 
ough New England education and with a thoroughly New 
England idea of imparting it. She insisted, especially, 
upon languages and literature. Much of my time, outside 
of that taken up in regular school work, I devoted to the 
study of music, and I practised my scales on the family 
piano with such persistence that I wonder the whole neigh- 
bourhood did not rebel. Music was the absorbing interest 
of my life in those days, the inspiration of all my dreams 
and ambitions. 

Our house was none too large for the family, but as there 
was a wide difference in our ages it happened that my oldest 
sister was married while my youngest sister was still a baby 
in long clothes. Then, the boys went away to college and 
were gone the better part of each year, so it was not often 
that we were all at home together. Nevertheless, we had 
our share of the happy-go-lucky and somewhat crowded 
existence of a large family on a moderate income. 

My mother was Harriet Collins, and when she was seven- 
teen years old she came with her mother to Cincinnati, from 
Lowville, New York, to live with her brother, Judge Collins, 

5 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

who was my father's law partner and continued to be so for 
more than forty years. Her father, Eli Collins, was a 
Member of Congress from the Lowville district of New 
York. My mother was in many ways a remarkable, as 
well as a most attractive, woman. She had an exceedingly 
keen wit and a mind alert to the humour in every situation. 
With so many children to nurse, to scold, to sew for and, 
sometimes, to cook for — in a word, to bring up on a small 
income — she would seem to have had little timte for out- 
side interests; but she was very popular in society and I 
remember that in her busiest years she went out a great 
deal. She had a stimulating personality and I do know 
that she made her family circle a very amusing and interest- 
ing one in which to grow up. 

The only incident of my girlhood which was in any way 
unusual was my first visit to the White House as a guest 
of President and Mrs. Hayes. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes and my 
father and mother had been lifelong friends. Mr. Hayes 
was, at one time, a partner in my father's law firm. They 
had been closely associated for a great many years and had a 
very warm regard for each other. My youngest sister was 
born shortly after the election of Mr. Hayes, was named 
Lucy Hayes Herron, after Mrs. Hayes, and was taken to the 
White House to be christened. My mother paid several 
visits to the White House and after my sister Jennie was 
married Mrs. Hayes invited her and Mr. Anderson to stay a 
week with her and, to my intense excitement, she added that 
she would like to have me accompany them. I was seventeen 
years old ; I had never been to Washington and to me it was a 
very important event. I was not "out," so I couldn't spend 
my time in the White House as I would have liked, in going 
to brilliant parties and meeting all manner of charming 
people, but, fortunately for my peace of mind, the Hayes 
lived very quietly, so it was not so trying to have to devote 

6 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

myself to seeing the sights of the Capital like any other 
tourist. 

I didn't meet my husband until I was eighteen years old. 
We had been born and brought up in the same town; our 
fathers were warm friends and had practised law at the same 
bar for more than forty years ; during that time our mothers 
had exchanged visits, and my sister Maria and Fanny Taft 
were schoolmates and close companions at Miss Nourse's, 
but the Taf ts lived at Mt. Auburn, a hill suburb of Cincin- 
nati, and after Will finished Woodward High School he 
went for four years to Yale, so it is not at all surprising that 
we did not meet. 

Judge Alphonso Taft was Secretary of War, and later 
Attorney-General, in Grant's Cabinet while his son Will was 
at college, but before the latter graduated, the family had 
returned to Cincinnati, so he came straight home and entered 
at once upon a law course in the Cincinnati Law School. It 
was at that time, when he was still a student and working 
as a law reporter on the Cincinnati Commercial, that I met 
him. It was at a coasting party one winter's night, I re- 
member very well, when I went with a party of young 
people, including the Charles Tafts, to coast down 
a fine steep hill in Mt. Auburn. Will Taft was there, and 
after being introduced to me he took me down the hill on his 
big bobsled. After that we met very frequently. 

A small circle of us went in for amateur theatricals 
with much enthusiasm and great earnestness. We launched 
ourselves in our histrionic careers in "She Stoops to Conquer" 
which we gave at the house of one of the company. 
Then came "A Scrap of Paper" in Mrs. Charles Taft's 
drawing-room, in which both Will and I took part. We 
had become very ambitious by this time and sent all the way 
to New York for a professional stage-manager to help us 
with the production. But it turned out a most nervous oc- 

7 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

casion. We were all overtrained, I suppose. One thing 
after another went wrong until at the crisis of the play, 
where the hero is supposed to find in the barrel of a gun the 
scrap of paper upon which the whole plot hinges, the ama- 
teur hero looked pretty foolish when he discovered there 
wasn't any gun. Another one of the company, in a fit of 
absentmindedness, no doubt due to overwrought nerves, had 
carried it off the stage, and just when the situation was get- 
ting tragic for the hero the culprit came creeping back with 
it and carefully put it where it belonged, for all the world 
as if he thought he were making himself invisible to the au- 
dience. 

But our ardour was not dampened. I remember Mr. Taft 
especially in a burlesque of "The Sleeping Beauty," which, 
in its legitimate form, had been produced for charity at 
Pike's Opera House. The Unity Club, a most respectable 
organization of the young men of the Unitarian Church, 
decided to give their version of the same story, and it was a 
huge success. Mr. Taft played the title role and his brother 
Horace, who is six feet four in his stocking feet, shared with 
the Beauty the honours of the evening as a most enchanting 
Puck. 

Then we had parties in the country, too. Many of our 
friends had country places that spread along the Madison 
Road and the Grandin Road on East Walnut Hills, and 
two of my closest friends lived out there in a great house, 
looking down over the majestic but tawny Ohio River, above 
the point where the sweeping curve begins that carries it by 
the amphitheatre in which the business part of the city is 
built. It was a long distance to East Walnut Hills and in 
my girlhood we had to go the greater part of the way in a 
clumsy old omnibus that clumped along over the unpaved 
roads at the rate of about three miles an hour. But such 
little inconveniences didn't trouble us, and many were the 
vaudeville and charade parties that we had, there being 

8 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

enough "talent" among us to get up an amusing perform- 
ance at a moment's notice. 

But in spite of all this gaiety, Mr. Taft was making very 
satisfactory progress in his career.. As a law reporter he 
showed his growing interest in the public welfare by meet- 
ing certain elements in Cincinnati politics with vigorous de- 
nunciation. There was a man named Tom Campbell, a 
clever criminal lawyer, who had something more than a sus- 
picion against him of bribery and corruption of both wit- 
nesses and juries, and he had succeeded in organising a 
political machine that was running the town according to 
his directions. 

Campbell was counsel for the defence in what was known 
as the Hoffman case and was strongly suspected of tamper- 
ing with the jury, and Mr. Taft in reporting the case, took 
special pains to bring out all the fine points in the lawyer's 
character and methods, telling the truth as he saw it. 

This brought him into association with Mr. Miller Out- 
calt, the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, who represented 
the State in the Hoffman case, and when Mr. Outcalt suc- 
ceeded by election to the position of prosecuting attorney 
he offered the place of assistant to Mr. Taft, although he 
had been at the bar not more than seven months. Mr. Taft 
served in this office for fourteen months and the experience 
he had in the rough-and-ready practice in criminal trials, in 
preparing cases for trial, in examining witnesses, in making 
arguments to the court and in summing up to the jury, was 
the most valuable experience he could possibly have in fit- 
ting him for trial work at the bar. 

But this experience was shortened by a circumstance not 
of his seeking. Major Benjamin Butterworth was the Con- 
gressman from one of the Cincinnati districts in President 
Arthur's administration, and the President being anxious 
to relieve the Collector of Internal Revenue, called on 
Major Butterworth to suggest the name of another man. 

9 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Major Butter worth had been for a long time a warm friend 
of Mr. Taft, thought he had a good family name and was 
too young in politics to have many political enemies, so he 
suggested him and wrote to urge him to accept the appoint- 
ment which the President immediately offered to him. He 
accepted the place and held it for a year, but it proved a 
serious interruption in his legal career. Lie resigned as 
soon as it was possible and began practice with Major H. P. 
Lloyd who had been his father's partner before he went to 
Vienna. 

Mr. Taft went abroad in the summer of 1883 to visit 
Judge and Mrs. Taft in Vienna, and it was about this time, 
when we had all spent several years in frivolities, that several 
of us became very serious-minded and decided that we must 
have something I>y way of occupation more satisfying than 
dancing and amateur theatricals. I secured a position as 
school teacher and taught for two years, first at Madame 
Fredin's and then at White and Sykes, both private schools 
out on Walnut Hills. Then, with two of my intimate 
friends, I decided to start a "salon." We called it a "salon" 
because we planned to receive a company who were to engage 
in what we considered brilliant discussion of topics intel- 
lectual and economic, and we decided that our gathering 
should include only specially invited guests. Among these 
were the two Taft brothers, Will and Horace, and other 
men common friends of us all. 

In view of the fact that two marriages resulted from this 
salon, Mr. Taft has suggested ulterior motives on the part 
of those who got it up, but there was no truth in the charge. 
W T e were simply bent on "improving our minds" in the most 
congenial atmosphere we could create, and if our discussions 
at the salon usually turned upon subjects of immediate per- 
sonal interest, to the neglect of the abstruse topics we had 
selected for debate, it was because those subjects were just 
then claiming the attention of the whole community. 

10 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Cincinnati, thanks to the activities of Tom Campbell and 
his followers, was then in a tangle of political mismanage- 
ment of a particularly vicious character, and our little circle 
developed a civic spirit which kept us alive to local interests 
to the exclusion, for the time being, of everything else. 
Mr. Taft was intimately connected with the reform move- 
ment, and in all its phases, through comedy and tragedy, 
disappointment and elation, we fought it out at our salon 
meetings with such high feeling and enthusiasm that its 
history became the history of our lives during that 
period. 

Then came the famous Berner case. This was in 1884. 
Berner had committed a deliberate murder of an unusually 
appalling nature and with robbery as the motive, and there 
was great excitement about it. Campbell became his coun- 
sel and, in a trial which held the attention of the community 
while it lasted, he succeeded in getting the man off for 
manslaughter when the unanimous opinion was that he 
should have been hanged. Nobody could see how an hon- 
est jury could have rendered any other verdict. There was 
intense indignation throughout the city and a meeting was 
called to denounce Campbell as an embracer of juries and a 
suborner of perjury. 

On the evening when the meeting to denounce Campbell 
was called we were having a session of the salon and our 
whole discussion was of the possible developments which 
might grow out of the infamous Berner trial. We were 
greatly excited about it. I remember the evening distinctly 
because of the terrible things that happened. We were dis- 
turbed by a great commotion in the street and we sallied 
forth in a body to see what it was all about. 

The mass meeting was held at Music Hall and was pre- 
sided over by Dr. Kemper, a very effective speaker. The 
crowd was angry and quickly passed the condemnatory reso- 
lutions which were framed. But with all the indignation 

11 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and resentment everything might have been carried out quite 
calmly had not the match been applied to the powder. 
Just as the meeting was breaking up somebody shouted: 
"Let's go down to the jail and take Berner out!" 
It was an appeal to the mob spirit which responds so 
readily in an angry crowd; they went; and of course the 
worst elements immediately came to the top. They at- 
tacked the jail, which was in the rear of the court house, but 
were held back until the militia, which had been instantly 
summoned, arrived. Then they went around to the front 
and set fire to the court house. With the streets packed 
with raging humanity it was not possible to fight the fire 
and the building was completely destroyed. 

The militia charged the mob and this inspired somebody 
with the idea of raiding a gun store and seizing arms and 
ammunition with which to make a resistance. The idea 
caught on and spread rapidly. One place attacked was 
Powell's gun shop near Fourth and Main. But Powell, 
either forewarned or foreseeing some such development, 
had quietly made preparations to meet it. He lighted 
up the front of the store as brightly as he could, then, with 
two or three other men who were expert shots, he put him- 
self behind a barricade in the rear. The mob came on and 
as the ringleaders broke into the shop they were picked off 
by the men behind the barricade and killed in their tracks. 
Four or five of them went down in a heap and the crowd 
behind them, not expecting such a reception, instantly was 
brought to its senses. This was in April, 1884. 

Such an outbreak was a disgrace to the city of Cincinnati, 
but it had the effect of bringing the Campbell controversy 
to a head. A bar committee of ten men, of which both my 
father and Mr. Taft were members, was formed to see what 
could be done to rid the community of the evil reputation it 
had acquired. This committee made a thorough investiga- 
tion of Campbell's character and record, prepared charges 

12 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

against him and, with my father as chairman, presented 
them, in June, 1884, to the district court of three judges, 
and asked a hearing and Campbell's disbarment if the 
charges were proved. 

Campbell had been indicted on a criminal charge of at- 
tempting to bribe a man called on the Berner jury and the 
prosecutor in this case was our intimate friend and associate, 
Mr. Rufus Smith, who had been in Europe with Mr. Taft 
the year before. The jury hung, eight to four, although 
the evidence was strong against the defendant. This fanned 
the flames of popular resentment and I don't suppose our 
little salon was the only place in Cincinnati where Campbell 
was carefully retried and convicted. In this criminal case 
Mr. Foraker, who shortly afterward became Governor of 
Ohio, was counsel for Campbell. 

The disbarment hearing was set for the following Novem- 
ber and some six months was thus given for taking the dep- 
ositions of non-resident witnesses. Mr. Kittredge and Mr. 
Ramsey, leaders of the bar, were retained as senior counsel 
for the committee, and Mr. Taft and Mr. John Holmes, 
a warm friend of ours, were junior counsel and were 
directed to prepare the evidence. In this work Mr. Taft 
and Mr. Holmes went all over the country taking deposi- 
tions and we kept in constant touch with them. All the 
members of the committee expected to have their reputations 
assailed, being perfectly certain that Campbell would not 
hesitate at any measure he might be able to take to discredit 
them, but they went ahead nevertheless. 

When the trial came on Mr. Ramsey, of the senior coun- 
sel, expected to open the case, but he became quite seriously 
ill and was confined to his house for days. Through his 
unexpected absence, the duty of making the opening state- 
ment fell to Mr. Taft. He was taken completely by sur- 
prise, but he rose to the opportunity, which was certainly a 
splendid one for a man so young. He had then been at the 

13 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

bar only four years, but having assisted throughout in the 
preparation of the evidence he knew the case from beginning 
to end and he made a speech which lasted four hours and 
a half. Mr. Taft thinks this was an opportunity improved 
which had an important influence on his career. The 
special part it played in his subsequent promotion I shall 
speak of. 

The result in the Campbell case was at first disappoint- 
ing because the Court which heard the disbarment charges 
found Campbell guilty only on minor charges and, by a vote 
of two to one acquitted him on those which would have 
required his disbarment. But the public disapproval of the 
Court's decision and the moral effect of the proceedings 
drove Campbell from the city and the State and accom- 
plished the purpose of the bar association. 

The Campbell trial was finished in December, 1884, and 
in January, 1885, Mr. Rufus Smith, an old and intimate 
friend, entered the office of County Solicitor and tendered 
to Mr. Taft the place of Assistant County Solicitor. The 
advantage of this office was that it paid $2500 a year and 
that, while he acted as counsel for the county, he still was 
able to continue the general practice of law with his part- 
ner, Major Lloyd. 

Mr. Taft and I were engaged in May, 1885, and were 
married in June of the following year. 

In the summer of 1885 my mother, moved I think by 
some sentimental attachment to the scenes of her childhood, 
decided that she would take us all up into the Adirondacks, 
to a little camp near Lowville. My two older sisters were 
married so there were only six of us left in the family, but 
we were still something of a handful to move in a body. 
However, my mother was equal to it. We packed almost a 
van load of trunks and set out, and one evening we arrived, 
over the worst corduroy road that was ever laid down, at a 
little cottage beside a beautiful lake in a setting of pine-clad 

H 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

hills. The scenery indeed was most satisfactory, but the 
cottage was so small that the family more than strained its 
capacity. Then we took our meals at a sort of boarding 
house called Fenton's, where the only thing on the bill of 
fare was fresh beef. I like what is known as "roughing it" 
as well as anybody, but even the superlative appetite pro- 
duced by outdoor living demands some variety; and variety 
we did not get. 

Mr. Taft had elected to remain in Cincinnati all summer 
and save money. It was a Spartan resolution and we all 
applauded it, but he probably found Lowville a long way 
from Pike Street; and I certainly thought Mother was sac- 
rificing a good deal for the sake of renewing the memories of 
her youth. However, the days went on, while the fresh 
beef grew less and less tempting. 

I had written Mr. Taft something about the Fenton fare 
and he, wanting very much to join us, but having no 
excuse for breaking his admirable resolution to remain in 
Cincinnati, hit upon the only plan for escaping comment 
on his lack of fortitude. He went down to Peeble's, a 
fancy grocer, and selecting a box as big as a Saratoga trunk, 
ordered it filled with every kind of delicacy he could think 
of or have pointed out to him and brought it with him to 
Lowville. 

We went rowing on the lake about sundown the evening 
he arrived, and right in the middle of a fine long stroke 
he suddenly dropped his oars, reached in his pocket and 
drew out a letter. He laughed a little when he handed it 
to me, then picking up his oars he rowed on without a word. 
The letter was from his father. 

Judge Taft was at this time Minister to St. Petersburg, 
having been transferred from Vienna. Will had written 
him about his engagement and about his plan to remain in 
town all summer and devote himself strictly to business and 
the accumulation of funds; and this was the answer. 

15 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

There were a lot of nice complimentary things about me, 
with the warmest congratulations and good wishes; then the 
letter closed by saying: "I am very much pleased with 
your decision to remain in Cincinnati this summer. I my- 
self have found it not at all bad if you take care of yourself, 
and there is no doubt that during the quiet months one can 
make and save considerable money by staying at home. I 
congratulate you on your strength of character." We 
really had a delightful summer at Fenton's after that. 

My father had given me a very nice lot at the end of 
McMillan Street on the site of an old quarry, which com- 
manded a fine view of the Ohio River and the surrounding 
country, and Mr. Taft and I determined to build a house on 
it which should be ready for us when we got back from our 
wedding trip. So the winter before our marriage was filled 
with architects' plans, contractors' estimates and all the 
other fascinating details of building, and we thought that 
we had finally settled upon a design that met with every 
requirement of good taste and modern comfort. 

For our wedding trip, we went abroad, and I had my first 
taste of the foreign travel of which I had always dreamed. 
We crossed on the City of Chester which was the oldest, and 
therefore the cheapest ship of the Inman line. We chose 
her for the simple reason that her rates accorded with our 
means, but we found, much to our astonishment, that we 
were the only people on board who had deliberately selected 
her. Everybody else had been forced to take her bcause 
of some emergency or some mishap. One man had to miss 
the Germanic in order to give his dentist time to relieve a 
very troublesome tooth. Another man was called to court 
just as he was about to board the Britannic. Those were 
the proud ships of the Atlantic in those days and it was not 
at all difficult to understand why anybody should prefer 
them to the City of Chester, but it amused us greatly to hear 
the shamefaced excuses of our fellow passengers. My hus- 

16 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

band and I were not ashamed, nor were we so particular 
about our comforts that we did not thoroughly enjoy our- 
selves. Besides, we had the gratifying consciousness of the 
money which the low rates had left in our pockets to be spent 
much more profitably abroad. 

The trip was full of interest to us both. We spent the 
greater part of the summer in England and saw the sights of 
London and the cathedral towns in great detail. Our only 
trip on the Continent was through Holland to Paris. I re- 
member that in Amsterdam I bought some old and rather 
large Delft plates. They wouldn't go into any trunk we 
had, so I had them carefully packed in a wicker hamper and 
this article became thereafter a part of our hand luggage, and 
was the occasion for a decided disagreement between my hus- 
band and me as to what the true object of travel was. He 
used to say that he "toted that blamed thing all around 
Europe and after all it arrived in Cincinnati with its con- 
tents in small pieces." Which was true. He had "toted" 
it all around Europe, but when we arrived in New York I 
entrusted it to an express company with the result that when 
we opened it we found its contents in such a condition that 
only an accomplished porcelain mender could put a suffi- 
cient number of pieces together to make what my husband 
always afterward referred to as "the memento of our first 
unpleasantness." 

Our trip from Cincinnati to Cincinnati took just one hun- 
dred days and cost us just one thousand dollars, or five dol- 
lars a day each. I venture to say that could not be done 
nowadays, even by as prudent a pair as we were. 

During a subsequent trip abroad, two years later, I was 
able to indulge my desire to hear music. We went to 
Beyreuth, to the Wagner festival, and heard Parsifal and 
The Meistersingers gloriously rendered ; after which we went 
to Munich and attended operas and concerts until Mr. Taft 
rebelled. He said that he enjoyed a certain amount of 

17 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

music just as much as anybody, ,but that he did want to get 
something more out of European travel than a nightly opera 
and a daily symphony. 

So — we went to Italy and saw Rome and Florence in true 
Baedecker style. When we arrived in Rome we opened our 
Baedecker and read that there was almost no foundation for 
Rome's awful reputation as an unhealthy place. "Rome 
is a very healthy place," said Baedecker, "at all times of 
the year except the first two weeks in August, when a visit 
there is attended with risk." We had arrived for the first 
two weeks in August ! 

When we came home from our wedding trip we found 
that our house was not yet completed, so we went to stay 
with Judge and Mrs. Taft for a month at the old house in 
Mt. Auburn. It was a nice old place, with about three 
acres of ground, but the air around it was just about as sooty 
as if it had been located down under the factory chimneys. 
Mt. Auburn is on a sort of promontory which juts out into 
the city; it is on a level with the tops of the smoke stacks 
and it catches all the soot that the air can carry that far. 

Judge and Mrs. Taft had come home from their Euro- 
pean mission in time for our wedding. Judge Taft had 
been ill in St. Petersburg and had given his family a great 
deal of anxiety, but he was now settled down to the busi- 
ness of quiet recuperation and the enjoyment of well-earned 
rest. 

My husband's father was "gentle" beyond anything I 
ever knew. He was a man of tremendous firmness of pur- 
pose and just as set in his views as any one well could be, 
but he was one of the most lovable men that ever lived be- 
cause he had a wide tolerance and a strangely "understand- 
ing sympathy" for everybody. He had a great many 
friends, and to know him was to know why this was so. 

Mr. Taft's mother, though more formal, was also very 
kindly and made my visit to her home as a bride full of 

18 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

pleasure. The two, the father and mother, had created a 
family atmosphere in which the children breathed in the 
highest ideals, and were stimulated to sustained and strenu- 
ous intellectual and moral effort in order to conform to the 
family standard. There was marked serenity in the circle 
of which Judge and Mrs. Taft were the heads. They had 
an abiding confidence in the future of their children which 
strongly influenced the latter to justify it. They both had 
strong minds, intellectual tastes, wide culture and catholic 
sympathies. 

Not long after we arrived my husband came to me one 
day with an air of great seriousness, not to say of concilia- 
tion, and said: 

"Nellie, Father has got himself into rather a difficulty 
and I hope I can rely on you to help him out — not make it 
too hard for him, you know, — make him feel as comfortable 
about it as you can. The truth is he used to have a mes- 
senger at the War Department in Washington whom he was 
very fond of. He was a bright man — colored, of course — 
and he was very devoted to Father. Now this man called 
on Father down town to-day. He's here on a private car 
and Father says he's made a great success as a porter. 
Father got to talking to him, and there were lots of things 
they wanted to talk about, and besides the man said he 
would like very much to see Mother, — and Father, 
who was just about ready to come home to lunch said — 
right on the spur of the moment — you understand he 
didn't think anything about it — he said to this man, 'Come 
on home and have lunch with us.' He's downstairs now. 
Father came to me and said he had just realised that it was 
something of a difficulty and that he was sorry. He said 
that he could take care of Mother if I could take care of 
you. So I hope you won't mind." 

As soon as I could control my merriment caused by this 
halting and very careful explanation, I went down to lunch- 

19 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

eon. I didn't mind and Will's mother didn't mind, but the 
expression on the face of Jackson, the negro butler, was al- 
most too much for my gravity. I will say that the porter 
had excellent manners and the luncheon passed off without 
excitement. 

We made a short visit at my mother's on Pike Street be- 
fore we moved into our new house on McMillan Street; but 
we began the year of 1887 under our own roof which, though 
it was mortgaged, was to us, for the time being, most satis- 
factory. 



20 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

make arrangements for our comfortable reception. His de- 
scription of his first day in Washington is, in the light of 
later events, rather amusing. 

He arrived at six o'clock on a cold, gloomy February 
morning at the old dirty Pennsylvania station. He wan- 
dered out on the street with a heavy bag in his hand look- 
ing for a porter, but there were no porters. Then he 
stood for a few moments looking up at the Capitol and feel- 
ing dismally unimportant in the midst of what seemed to 
him to be very formidable surroundings. He wondered to 
himself why on earth he had come. He was sure he had 
made a fatal mistake in exchanging a good position and a 
pleasant circle at home, where everybody knew him, for 
a place in a strange and forbidding city where he knew prac- 
tically nobody and where, he felt sure, nobody wanted to 
know him. He lugged his bag up to the old Ebbitt House 
and, after eating a lonesome breakfast, he went to the De- 
partment of Justice to be sworn in. After that ceremony 
was over and he had shaken hands with the Attorney Gen- 
eral, he went up to inspect the Solicitor General's Office, and 
there he met the most dismal sight of the whole dismal day. 
His "quarters" consisted of a single room, three flights up, 
and bearing not the slightest resemblance to his mental pic- 
ture of what the Solicitor General's offices would be like. 
The Solicitor General's stenographer, it seemed, was a tele- 
grapher in the chief clerk's office and had to be sent for when 
his services were required. Altogether it must have been a 
very disheartening outlook. 

As Mr. Taft sat looking over briefs and other papers, and 
trying to get some definite idea about his new work, a mes- 
senger brought in a card. 

"Mr. Evarts, New York," it read. 

Evarts was a well-known name, of course, but it was hard 
for Mr. Taft to believe that the William M. Evarts, leader 
of the American Bar and then Senator from New York, 

25 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

could be calling on the Solicitor General of less than a day. 
He knew that Wm. M. Evarts had known his father. 

Mr. Evarts entered. 

"Mr. Taft," he said, as he gave my husband's hand a 
cordial grasp, "I knew your father. I was in the class of 
'37 at Yale and he had graduated before I entered; but he 
was there as a tutor in my time and I valued his friendship 
very highly." 

Then the visitor came straight to the point. 

"Mrs. Evarts and I are giving a dinner to-night for my 
former partner and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Choate. 
Mr. Choate is in Washington for a short time to argue a 
case before the Supreme Court. Now, unfortunately, one 
of our guests has sent word that he can't come and I thought, 
perhaps, considering my long-standing friendship with your 
father, you might consent to waive ceremony and fill the 
place at our table at this short notice." 

My husband accepted the invitation with almost undue 
alacrity, and when his guest left started in on his new duties 
feeling that, after all, Washington might afford just as 
friendly an atmosphere as Cincinnati, once he became accus- 
tomed to it. 

There is just one incident in connection with the dinner 
party which Mr. Taft adds to his account of that day. As 
he sat down to dinner the ladies on either side of him leaned 
hastily forward to see what was written on his place-card. 
"The Solicitor General" — that was all. Of course neither 
of them knew who the new Solicitor General was and it 
didn't occur to him to enlighten them until it was too late 
to do it gracefully. So he allowed them to go on addressing 
him as "Mr. Solicitor General" while he, having them at an 
advantage, addressed them by the names which he had sur- 
reptitiously read on their place-cards. They were Mrs. 
Henry Cabot Lodge and Mrs. John Hay. 

When my husband had been in Washington two weeks 

26 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

I joined him and we took a small house on Dupont Circle 
where for two years we lived a life, sometimes amusing, 
sometimes quite exciting, but, on the whole, of quiet routine. 

Washington society was much simpler then than it is 
now. Since that time a great many people of very large 
means have gone to Washington to live because of its un- 
usual attractions and its innumerable advantages as a resi- 
dential city. They have changed Washington, by their 
generous hospitality, into one of the most brilliant social 
centres in the world, where large dinner parties, balls, recep- 
tions, musicals and other entertainments are of daily and 
nightly occurrence throughout the season. The very char- 
acter of the streets has changed. The small, red brick 
houses, closely grouped together and neighbouring, even in 
fashionable quarters, on negro shacks and cheap tenements, 
are being everywhere replaced by marble and granite resi- 
dences of great beauty and luxury. 

In 1890 Society in Washington still consisted, chiefly, of 
the "best families" of the old city, the Diplomatic Corps 
and the highest among the government officials. A dinner 
party of twelve was still considered large, and only a few 
people had weekly evenings At Home. There were occa- 
sional big receptions, but for nobody was society the mad 
rush that it is to-day. We ourselves lived very simply even 
for those simple days. 

My daughter Helen was born in 1891, so for the last year 
in Washington I had two small babies to care for. In order 
that he might get a little much needed exercise Mr. Taft 
bought a horse and, fortunately, for us, he secured a most 
adaptable creature. He was supposed to be a riding horse, 
but he didn't mind making himself generally useful. The 
Attorney General lent us a carriage which he was not then 
using — a surrey, I think it was called — and we hitched him 
to that; and the whole Taft family drove out of a Sunday 
afternoon to the Old Soldiers' Home, which was the fashion- 

27 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

able drive in those days, or up the aqueduct road to Cabin 
John's bridge. My sister Maria who visited us used always 
to speak of our steed as "G'up," a name suggested by Bobby's 
interpretation of his father's invocations to the good-natured 
and leisurely beast. Poor old "G'up" ! I suppose with his 
"horse sense" he finally realised that he was leading such a 
double life as no respectable horse should lead; he gave up 
and died before we left Washington. 

The Justices of the Supreme Court and the Attorney 
General, the men with whom Mr. Taft came most in con- 
tact, were, with their wives, very kind and attentive to us, 
including us in many of their delightful parties. Chief Jus- 
tice Fuller was then the head of the court and I have the 
pleasantest memories of his and Mrs. Fuller's hospitality. 
Justice Grey had married a Miss Matthews, a daughter of 
Mr. Justice Matthews. I had known Mrs. Grey in Cincin- 
nati before her marriage. 

i During the course of my first weeks in Washington Mr. 
Taft had taken special pains to impress on me many times 
the necessity for my calling on Mrs. Grey without any delay. 
Much importance attached to the formality of first calls and 
I was the newest of newcomers who had to call on the wives 
of all my husband's official superiors before they noticed 
me. Still, it was a full month before I had time to go to 
Mrs. Grey's and I was considerably worried about it. But 
when, finally, I did go and had been most kindly received, 
I explained at once that the settling of myself and my small 
baby in a new house had, until then, kept me too busy for 
any calls. Mrs. Grey hastened to assure me that she under- 
stood my position perfectly and had not thought of blaming 
me. 

"Indeed, my dear," she said, "I knew that you had a small 
baby in the house and that you must be kept constantly oc- 
cupied. As a matter of fact I should have waived ceremony 
and come myself to welcome you to Washington except for 

28 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

one thing which I could not very well overlook, and that 
is — that Mr. Taft has not yet called on Mr. Justice Grey." 

I think I have rarely seen anything more satisfactorily 
amusing than the expression on my husband's face when I 
told him this. 

But, in spite of the friendliness of the Justices and others, 
we really went out very little. On one occasion when my 
sister Maria had been visiting us for several weeks we went 
for a Sunday night supper to the house of a lady whom 
Maria had known very well in Cincinnati. She was living 
that winter in Washington and seemed to be rather well 
pleased with her social success. She talked loftily through- 
out supper, and during a good part of the evening, about 
the dinner parties she had attended and the grand people 
she had met. Then just as we were about to start home she 
turned to my sister and said : 

"And have you been much entertained, my dear Maria*?" 

"Oh, I've been enjoying myself tremendously," was the 
answer. 

"Well, with whom have you dined, dear 4 ?" persisted our 
hostess. 

"Why, we've dined with the Andersons, with the German 
Ambassador, with the Chief Justice, and with the Maurys, 
and with the French Ambassador, — and with, oh, a number 
of other people." 

Our hostess was visibly impressed. 

"W T hy ! you really have been very gay, haven't you, dear !" 
she exclaimed. 

When we got into our cab to go home Maria turned to my 
husband and said: 

"I had my eye on you all the time I was talking, Will 
Taft. I was perfectly certain that your terrible sense of 
fact would overcome you and that you would blurt out that 
I dined with all those people on the same evening at the 
same dinner party!" 

29 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

President Harrison, in March, 1892, appointed my 
husband on the Federal Circuit Bench, so once more I 
saw him a colleague of men almost twice his age and, I 
feared, fixed in a groove for the rest of his life. However, 
he was greatly pleased and very proud to hold such a dig- 
nified and responsible position at the age of thirty-four. I 
think he enjoyed the work of the following eight years more 
than any he has ever undertaken. 

We moved back to Cincinnati. Mr. Taft's circuit in- 
cluded parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Michigan — 
reached in fact, from Lookout Mountain to Marquette, and 
he was much away from home. My own life during those 
years in Cincinnati was very busy, for, in addition to my 
occupation with family and friends, I became interested in 
a number of civic movements. 

My principal work was the organisation and management 
of the Cincinnati Orchestra Association. I found, at last, 
a practical method for expressing and making use of my love 
and knowledge of music. 

We had not had a good symphony orchestra in the city 
since Theodore Thomas left, but with our music-loving popu- 
lation it was only necessary that somebody should take the 
initiative and arouse definite enthusiasm and keep it going, 
in order to establish and maintain such an institution. 
There were many public-spirited citizens, some of them true 
music-loving Germans, and I saw no reason why I should 
not get strong popular support for my project. I was not 
disappointed. From the first the response was general and 
generous and we did not have much difficulty in raising the 
necessary funds for financing the orchestra, although in addi- 
tion to our box-office receipts, we had to secure $30,000 a 
year for six consecutive years. It could not have been done 
had it not been for such liberal friends as my brother and sis- 
ter, Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, Mr. Charles Krippendorf, 

30 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Mr. M. E. Ingalls, Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Ault, Mrs. Charles 
Fleishmann, Mr. J. G. Schmidlapp and others. 

For the first year we had three different directors, Mr. 
Seidl, Mr. Schradick and Mr. Van der Stiicken, who came 
to Cincinnati and led two concerts each. Then we secured 
Mr. Van der Stiicken as a permanent leader and he remained 
with the orchestra ten years. 

I think I regretted the Cincinnati Orchestra Association 
more than anything else when we left for the Philippines, 
but I left it in good and well-trained hands. Mrs. C. R. 
Holmes, who succeeded me as President of the Association, 
had taken a great part in the original work of organisation 
and management, as had my sister-in-law, Mrs. Charles P. 
Taft, and others. Through their efforts the orchestra has 
been enlarged and improved and it is still a source of great 
pride and satisfaction to the city of Cincinnati. Mrs. 
Charles Taft is now the President and through her interest, 
activity and generosity it has been enabled to grow in ex- 
cellence. 

Except for the orchestra, our life was tranquil; quite too 
settled, I thought, and filled with the usual homely incidents 
connected with housekeeping and the entertaining develop- 
ment of small children. My youngest child, Charles, was 
born in 1897, and my family was thus complete. 

I come now to the years which we gave to the Philippine 
Islands and I must say that I wonder yet how our lot hap- 
pened to be so cast. 

There had never been any unusual interest in our family 
as to the results of the Spanish-American War. Like most 
patriotic Americans we had been greatly excited while the 
war was in progress and had discussed its every phase and 
event with a warmth of approval, or disapproval, as the case 
might be, but it did not touch us directly, except as citizens, 
any more than it touched the vast majority of the people of 

31 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS . 

the United States. And yet, it came to mean more to us 
personally, than any other event in our times. The whole 
course of my husband's career was destined to be changed 
and influenced by its results. 

Mr. Taft was strongly opposed to taking the Philippines. 
He was not an anti-imperialist in the sense that he believed 
the Constitution required us to keep the boundaries of the 
United States within their continental limits, but he thought 
the Antipodes rather a far stretch for the controlling hand, 
and he thought the taking of the Philippines would only 
add to our problems and responsibilities without increasing, 
in any way, the effectiveness and usefulness of our govern- 
ment. 

Oddly enough, he had expressed himself to that effect 
when he happened, during the Spanish War, to be dining 
with a number of judges including Justice Harlan who, 
although later an anti-imperialist, was at that time strongly 
upholding the policy of taking over Spanish territory in 
both oceans. 

Mr. Taft knew just about as much about the Filipino 
people as the average American knew in those days. What 
he definitely knew was that they had been for more than 
three centuries under Spanish dominion and that they now 
wanted political independence. He was heartily in favour 
of giving it to them. 

It was one day in January, 1900, that he came home 
greatly excited and placed before me a telegram. 

"What do you suppose that means?" said he. 

"I would like to see you in Washington on important 
business within the next few days. On Thursday if pos- 
sible," it read. And it was signed — William McKinley. 

We didn't know and we couldn't think what possible busi- 
ness the President could have with him. I began to conjure 
up visions of Supreme Court appointments; though I knew 
well enough that Supreme Court appointments were not 

32 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

tendered in that fashion and besides there was no vacancy. 

Mr. Taft lost no time in responding to the President's 
summons and I awaited his return with as much patience 
as I could muster. In three days he came home with an 
expression so grave that I thought he must be facing impeach- 
ment. But when he broke his news to me it gave me noth- 
ing but pleasure. 

"The President wants me to go to the Philippine Islands," 
he said, in a tone he might have used in saying: "The 
President wants me to go out and jump off the court house 
dome." "Want to go?' he added. 

"Yes, of course," I answered without a moment's hesi- 
tation. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I knew instantly 
that I didn't want to miss a big and novel experience. I 
have never shrunk before any obstacles when I had an op- 
portunity to see a new country and I must say I have never 
regretted any adventure. 

"The President and Mr. Root want to establish a civil 
government in the Philippines," said Mr. Taft, "and they 
want me to go out at the head of a commission to do it." It 
was only after I had accepted the invitation to go ten thou- 
sand miles away that I asked for an explanation. 

In answer to the President's proposal, Mr. Taft said that 
he didn't approve of the acquisition of the Philippines in the 
first place, and that in the second place he knew nothing 
about colonial government and had had really no experience 
in executive work of any kind. But Mr. McKinley did not 
accept these objections as final. He called in Mr. Root, 
who was then Secretary of War, and who would be Mr. 
Taft's chief in the proposed mission to the Philippines, and 
together they presented the case so strongly that my hus- 
band could not help but waver in his decision. Neither 
Mr. McKinley nor Mr. Root had rejoiced in the taking over 
of the Philippines for that matter, but that was beside the 
question; the Philippines were taken, and it behooved the 

33 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

United States to govern them until such time as their people 
had learned the difficult art of governing themselves. 

Mr. Root said: 

"The work to be done in the Philippines is as great as the 
work Livingston had to do in Louisiana. It is an oppor- 
tunity for you to do your country a great service and achieve 
for yourself a reputation for the finest kind of constructive 
work. You have had a very fortunate career. While you 
are only slightly over forty you have had eight years on the 
Federal Bench, three years on the State Bench and two years 
as Solicitor General. These places you have filled well, 
but they have been places which involved no sacrifice on your 
part.. Here is a field which calls for risk and sacrifice. 
Your country is confronted with one of the greatest problems 
in its history, and you, Judge Taf t, are asked to take imme- 
diate charge of the solution of that problem 7,000 miles away 
from home. You are at the parting of the ways. Will you 
take the easier course, the way of least resistance, with the 
thought that you had an opportunity to serve your country 
and declined it because of its possible sacrifice, or will you 
take the more courageous course and, risking much, achieve 
much? This work in the Philippines will give you an in- 
valuable experience in building up a government and in the 
study of laws needed to govern a people, and such experience 
cannot but make you a broader, better judge should you be 
called upon again to serve your country in that capacity." 

My husband promised to consult with me and with his 
brother Charles and give his answer in a few days. He 
didn't know whether or not I would be willing to go, but 
that was a question soon settled. 

His resignation of his judgeship was the greatest difficulty. 
The President told him he did not think it would be at all 
necessary for him to resign since the work in the Philippines 
would take only about six months — nine months at the long- 
est — and that he could absent himself from his duties for 

34 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

that length of time, and for such a purpose, without fear 
of any kind of unfortunate consequences. Mr. Taft's in- 
vestigation and study of the situation immediately convinced 
him that Mr. McKinley was wrong in his expectation that 
the work could be done so quickly. Nor did Mr. Root have 
any such idea. Even with the meagre information which 
was then available, my husband at once saw that it would be 
years before the Philippine problem . would begin to solve 
itself. So he resigned from the Bench; the hardest thing 
he ever did. 

After sending in his acceptance he went immediately to 
Washington to discuss with Mr. McKinley and Mr. Root 
the whole situation and, especially, the names of four other 
men who were to be chosen to serve with him on the Com- 
mission. He had met Mr. Worcester, a member of the first 
Commission, and had got from him a great deal of valuable 
data. If Professor Shurman, the chairman of the first Com- 
mission, had become a member of the second, he probably 
would have been at its head, but he did not, and this position 
fell to Mr. Taft. He was thereafter known as President of 
the Commission, until civil government was organised in the 
Philippines and be became governor. 

After he had gone to Washington I began at once to make 
hasty, and I may say, happy preparations for my adventure 
into a new sphere. That it was alluring to me I did not 
deny to anybody. I had no premonition as to what it would 
lead to; I did not see beyond the present attraction of a new 
and wholly unexplored field of work which would involve 
travel in far away and very interesting countries. I read 
with engrossing interest everything I could find on the sub- 
ject of the Philippines, but a delightful vagueness with re- 
gard to them, a vagueness which was general in the United 
States at that time, and has not, even yet, been entirely dis- 
pelled, continued in my mind. There were few books to be 
found, and those I did find were not specially illuminating. 

35 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

I gave up my house in Cincinnati and stored my belong- 
ings, packing for shipment to the Orient only such things 
as I thought would be absolutely necessary. We were to 
leave almost immediately and I had very little time in which 
to do a great many things. Mr. Taft came back to Cincin- 
nati for a short period and we entered upon a busy season of 
good-bye hospitality. Everybody we knew, and we knew 
nearly everybody, wanted to give us a farewell dinner or 
entertainment of some sort. Mr. Taft, especially, was feted 
in a way which proved to him how much more widely he was 
valued in his native town than he had ever realised. In the 
opinions of people then we were going, sure enough, to the 
ends of the earth, and many of our friends were as mournful 
about it as if they had private foreknowledge that it was to 
be a fatal adventure. 

When the banquets and dinners and luncheons and recep- 
tions and teas had all been given; when the speeches had all 
been made, and the good-byes had all been said, Mr. Taft 
hastened off to Washington once more to meet his colleagues 
and make final arrangements, and I was not to see him again 
until we met in San Francisco a week before the date set 
for sailing. 

I asked my sister Maria to go with me for the first 5'ear, 
and she accepted with delight. So, one morning in early 
April, with our world waving at us from the platform of the 
station, we started south to join the Southern Pacific rail- 
road at New Orleans and to make our way from there to 
Los Angeles and so to San Francisco. 

I had with me my three children, Robert, Helen and Char- 
lie. Robert was ten years old, Helen eight, while Charlie, 
my baby, was just a little over two. It did not occur to me 
that it was a task to take them on such a long journey, or 
that they would be exposed to any danger through the ex- 
perience. They were normal, healthy and very self-reliant 
little people and I made preparations for their going with- 

36 




CHAR l.IK TAFT WHEN HE WENT TO THE PHILIPPINES 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

out giving the matter a moment's unhappy consideration. 
But I was to receive a few shocks in this connection later on. 
One of these came when I learned that some members of the 
party had left their children at home for fear of the Philip- 
pine climate. Then one day, at the old Palace Hotel in San 
Francisco, I was sitting on guard over Charlie as he played 
up and down a wide corridor, and reading a book at inter- 
vals, when along came an odd-looking elderly gentleman 
who stopped to regard the boy with a smile of the kindliest 
amusement. Charlie was an attractive child. Even I 
couldn't help but see that, and I was used to having people 
stop to watch him. He had big, dark eyes, soft, brown 
curls, very deep dimples, and a charming smile that was 
always in evidence. The elderly gentleman stood watching 
him for some little time, his face growing gradually very 
grave, and I wondered what he was thinking about. He 
didn't keep me wondering long. After a few moments he 
stepped deliberately up to me and said: 

"Madam, I understand you are going to the Philippine 
Islands. Now I want to know if you are going to take that 
great, big, beautiful boy out to that pest-ridden hole and 
expose him to certain destruction." 

I grabbed my great, big, beautiful boy and rushed off to 
my room, and it was a relief eventually to learn that the 
awful Philippine climate, at least so far as children were 
concerned, existed, largely, in people's minds. 

We found intense interest in our mission in California and 
San Francisco. If there were any anti-imperialists there, 
they successfully concealed themselves. The East was un- 
comfortably crowded with them in those days, but the evi- 
dent interest and profit that the West coast would derive 
from a large Philippine trade may have been responsible 
for the favourable attitude of the Californians. However, 
we must not impeach their patriotism, and we ought to at- 
tribute some of their enthusiasm in reference to the Philip- 

37 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

pines, and our assuming control over them, to the natural 
enterprise of a people who had themselves gone so far in a 
land of development and hope. 

Everything that could be done to make smooth the path 
of the new Commission was done. At their own request the 
powers of the Commissioners were carefully defined so that 
complications with the military government then in force in 
the islands, might be avoided. They were given equal rank 
with ministers plenipotentiary in the matter of naval cour- 
tesies and precedence; and Mr. Root drafted a letter of in- 
structions, which the President signed, outlining their duties 
in such precise and correct detail that it was afterward 
adopted and ratified in its entirety in the act of Congress by 
which the Philippine government was established. 

g — I believed we were going to have "smooth sailing" 
in every sense, when we started on the long voyage with 
which began this interesting experience. 



38 



CHAPTER III 

TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The United States Army Transport Hancock had been as- 
signed to the Commission for the trip from San Francisco 
to Manila and it was at noon on a pleasant day in mid-April 
— the seventeenth — that she pulled away from the crowded 
dock and headed straight for the Golden Gate and the long 
path across the Pacific that leads to the other side of the 
world. There were forty-five people in our party and, al- 
though most of us had met for the first time in San Francisco, 
we soon became well acquainted, as people do on shipboard, 
and proceeded at once to prove ourselves to be a most har- 
monious company. 

The Hancock was the old Arizona, a one-time greyhound 
of the Atlantic, which the Government had purchased and 
remodelled for service as an army transport. A consider- 
able fleet of such vessels plied the Pacific at that time, carry- 
ing large consignments of troops to and from the Philippines 
and, though there are not so many now, I still read with 
interest of the comings and goings of ships whose old, 
friendly sounding names became so familiar to us in the 
course of our residence in the East. The Grant, the Sher- 
man, the Sheridan, the Thomas, and others, all named 
for great American generals, awaken memories of interesting 
days. The Hancock was later given up by the Army and 
turned over to the Navy on account of her heavy consump- 
tion of coal. She is now used as a recruiting ship at the 
Brooklyn Navy Yard. 

We found her very comfortable. There were few people 
aboard besides the members of our party, and, as she was 
equipped to carry the officers and men of an entire regiment, 
we found ourselves commodiously quartered. Moreover, 
the commissary of the transport service had received instruc- 

39 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

tions to give us excellent fare; this, I believe, through the 
thoughtful kindness of Mr. McKinley himself. 

Mr. McKinley never failed to take a personal interest 
in the everyday welfare of all those in his administration 
who came under his own observation and we were made to 
feel this throughout our experience on the Philippine Com- 
mission, while he lived. On every appropriate occasion 
we were certain to receive from him some kindly compli- 
ment, a cablegram or other communication, and it made 
everybody who came within range of his influence anxious 
to serve him well and to make the work which was being 
done satisfactory and pleasing to him. I owe to our con- 
nection with President McKinley's administration some of 
my happiest recollections. 

The men who made up the second Philippine Commission 
were Mr. Taft, General Luke E. Wright of Memphis, Ten- 
nessee; Judge Henry C. Ide of Vermont, Professor Dean 
C. Worcester of the University of Michigan, and Professor 
Bernard Moses of the University of California. A short 
introduction of my husband's colleagues and the members 
of their families who went with them to the Philippines will 
be necessary at this point, because I was destined to be con- 
stantly associated with them during four of the most interest- 
ing years of my life. Our co-operation, social and govern- 
mental, was based upon a common purpose, and our attach- 
ment to this purpose, as well as the bonds of friendship 
which united us, were greatly strengthened by the oppo- 
sition we had to meet for some months after we reached 
Manila, not only from the Filipinos, but also from the 
military government which the Commission was sent out 
gradually to replace. 

The men of the Commission, coming, as they did, from 
different parts of the United States, were widely contrasted, 
no less in associations than in their varied accents and family 

traditions. 

40 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

General Wright was, and is, one of the ablest lawyers in 
Tennessee, and enjoyed, at the time of his appointment on 
the Commission, the finest practice in Memphis. He is a 
Democrat; and old enough to have been a lieutenant in the 
Civil War on the Confederate side. But perhaps his finest 
laurels for bravery and devotion to duty were won at the 
time when he exerted himself to save Memphis in the 
days when she was in the grip of a terrible epidemic of 
yellow fever. I don't know the exact year, but the epi- 
demic was so out of control that all who could, left the 
city, while General Wright remained to organise such 
resistance as could be made to the spread of the dread dis- 
ease. 

Mrs. Wright was a daughter of the famous Admiral 
Semmes of the Confederate Navy and for some time after 
the war she travelled with her father in Mexico and abroad, 
thereby acquiring at an early age a very cosmopolitan 
outlook. Admiral Semmes was a great linguist and Mrs. 
Wright inherited his gift. She had learned to speak Span- 
ish in her girlhood, so when she arrived in Manila she had 
only to renew her knowledge of the language. General 
and Mrs. Wright had with them their daughter Katrina, 
who was then about fourteen years old, but their two sons, 
one a naval officer, did not join them in the Philippines until 
later. 

General Wright had, on the whole, the most delightful 
social qualities of anybody on the Commission. He had a 
keen sense of humour and could recount a great number of 
interesting personal experiences with a manner and wit 
which made him, always, a delightful companion. He was 
a devotee of pinochle and he instructed the entire party 
in the game until it was played from one end of the ship 
to the other. He was slow to anger, very deliberate and 
kindly in his judgments, and offered at times a decided con- 
trast to his wife who was a little more hasty and not infre- 

4i 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

quently founded judgments on what he would jocosely 
criticise as "a woman's reason." 

Judge Ide was born and bred a Vermonter and had many 
of the rugged characteristics of the Green Mountain State, 
not the least among which is a certain indefinable, but 
peculiarly New England caution. In addition to a large 
and active law practice in both New Hampshire and Ver- 
mont, he had banking connections through which he had 
gained a better knowledge of business and finance than is 
possessed by the average lawyer. Moreover, a long term as 
Chief Justice of Samoa had given him diplomatic experience 
and a knowledge of the Polynesian races which were to serve 
him well in his work in the Philippines. As Chief Justice 
he exercised diplomatic and consular as well as judicial 
functions, and his position brought him in close relations 
with the English and German officials of the joint protec- 
torate of the Samoan islands and in constant social contact 
with the naval officers of many countries whose ships very 
frequently called at Apia. He was a widower with two 
young daughters. 

These daughters, Anne and Marjorie, or "the two Ide 
girls" as they were then popularly known, displayed no sign 
of Puritan ancestry or upbringing. They were just remark- 
ably beautiful and altogether charming and delightful. A 
large part of their girlhood had been spent in Samoa; they 
were the product of an intermittent, but very picturesque 
education, and there was ingrained in them some of that 
happy-go-lucky attitude toward life, and that freedom from 
useless convention which the Occidental is not unlikely to 
acquire in the Orient. 

These girls had, in Samoa, been great friends of Robert 
Louis Stevenson. Anne, the elder, was the especial favourite 
of the beauty-loving invalid and he willed to her his birth- 
day, as can be learned from his Samoan letters. She was 
born near Christmas time and had never known what it was 

42 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

to have her birthday celebrated, a great deprivation in child- 
hood. But she now celebrates as her own the birthday of 
Robert Louis Stevenson and it is, I believe, her most cher- 
ished possession. 

Marjorie, whose career, ever since our first trip together, I 
have followed with the greatest affection and interest, had 
even more of the care-free attitude than Anne. She used 
to convulse us with cruelly funny accounts of her adventures 
with admirers, of whom there were many, and with descrip- 
tions of some of the strange acquaintances she made during 
her travels with her father. 

Among the passengers on the Hancock was Dr. Kneedler, 
an army surgeon, with his wife and two little girls. These 
little girls were exceedingly bright and inquisitive. Young 
ladies and gentlemen had particular and irresistible attrac- 
tions for them and the Ide young ladies kept them very 
much occupied. The Ide young ladies didn't encourage 
their attentions and this fact engendered their hostility. 
They therefore referred to the Misses Ide as "them there 
Ides." With their delightful sense of humour the Ides, of 
course, rejoiced in the designation and in all the thirteen 
years since then they have never met Mr. Taft or me with- 
out presenting themselves as "them there Ides." 

The Misses Ide were destined to be the unrivalled belles 
of Manila society for six years and then to move on to 
broader social spheres. Anne was married to Mr. Bourke 
Cochran shortly after her father left the Philippines, but 
Marjorie continued to be her father's companion for several 
years, going with him to Madrid when he was appointed 
Minister to Spain and presiding over the American Legation 
there until she married Mr. Shane Leslie and went to Lon- 
don to live. 

General Wright, Judge Ide and Mr. Taft were the law- 
yers on the Commission and it was felt that their familiarity 
with law and governmental matters greatly enhanced the 

43 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

strength and preparedness of the Commission for the work 
they had to do. 

Mr. Worcester was an assistant professor at the University 
of Michigan. He too was a Vermonter, with quite as much 
for titer in re, but with somewhat less of the suaviter in mo do 
than Judge Ide inherently had, or had acquired in his Samoan 
experience. 

Mr. Worcester was the only member of the party who had 
ever been to the Philippines before. I think he had been 
there twice with scientific expeditions before the Battle of 
Manila Bay had thrust the guardianship of the Filipinos 
upon our country, and in the course of his trips, with his flu- 
ency in Spanish as it is spoken in the Philippines, he had 
acquired a very intimate knowledge of the people and their 
customs, as well as of the flora and fauna of the islands. He 
had written a book on the Philippines which came out at a 
most fortunate time, just when Dewey's victory had turned 
the eyes of the country upon that never-before-thought-of 
corner of the world. This book led to his appointment on 
the first Commission and his useful, loyal, courageous and 
effective labours with that body led Mr. McKinley to ap- 
point him on the second. 

He is a large, forceful man with rather abrupt manners 
and very decided opinions and perhaps no greater contrast 
could be imagined than exists between him and Mrs. Worces- 
ter, who, in outward seeming, is the frailest kind of little 
woman, with a sweet face and engagingly gentle manners 
which suggest timidity. Mrs. Worcester has proved herself 
to possess the frailty of flexible steel. At that time we were 
quite concerned about her, I remember, thinking she would 
not be able to endure the Philippine climate even for a short 
period. But she has lived there from that day to this. She 
has been with her husband through many experiences from 
which the strongest woman would shrink, toiling with him 
over hundreds of miles of mountain and jungle trail on his 

44 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

frequent expeditions into the countries of the wild tribes 
and, meeting every difficulty without comment. She 
is in excellent health and is a living refutation of the familiar 
exaggerations as to the effect of the climate. They had with 
them two little white haired children, one of them quite del- 
icate, who have grown up in the Philippines strong and 
healthy and have received most of their education in the 
schools established there under American government. 

The last member of the Commission was Professor Ber- 
nard Moses of the political and historical department of the 
University of California. He was a man of profound learn- 
ing, a Connecticut Yankee, combining a very excellent 
knowledge of business with his unusual qualifications as an 
historian, economist and student of politics. He was espe- 
cially familiar with all Spanish-American countries, had 
travelled extensively in the South American republics and 
had written a learned book on the constitution of Colombia. 
My husband always says that he thinks Mr. McKinley exer- 
cised the wisest discretion in the selection of all the members 
of this Commission since they possessed, among them, qualifi- 
cations for every line of work in practical government and 
original research. 

Mrs. Moses, a graduate from the University of California, 
was a very attractive woman. She had a gift for vivid de- 
scription and for seeing the funny side of every situation. 
Her book, "Unofficial Letters of an Official's Wife," gives an 
interesting and accurate picture of social life in the early days 
of military rule, which are known in Manila history as "the 
days of the Empire" and of that period when American civil 
government was in the process of organisation. Her wit 
sometimes had a suggestion of the caustic in it, but she never 
failed to contribute her quota to the day's amusement. 

There were many other interesting members of the party, 
including Mr. Arthur Fergusson, the Spanish secretary, and 
Mrs. Fergusson, Mr. Frank A. Branagan, the disbursing 

45 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

officer, and Mrs. Branagan, and several private secretaries 
with their families. 

The voyage from San Francisco to Honolulu was quite 
perfect. As we sailed toward the tropics the weather grad- 
ually grew warmer and the sheltered decks became the most 
attractive part of the ship. The promenade deck of the 
Hancock reaches from bow to stern. I believe there is a 
regular term to describe such ship construction, — "decked 
over all" is it? — but to me it was just a very long deck which 
served unusually well for exercise. The Commission held 
regular business sessions in a cabin which had been fitted up 
for the purpose, but when work was over they would start 
on a long march around and around the deck, covering many 
miles each day. My husband was especially industrious and 
walked one man after another "off his feet" until, finally, he 
was obliged to finish his long tramp alone. He set himself 
the task of so many miles a day, so many times around the 
deck being a mile, and to keep count of laps requires some 
concentration. His quiet persistence in this kind of exercise 
was calculated to make the lazy onlooker intensely nervous, 
and when I had done my modest little turn I was always glad 
to indulge in a sort of counter-concentration at a whist table, 
or at General Wright's ever constant pinochle. 

Altogether the days passed very pleasantly and we were a 
very merry and friendly party by the time we reached Hon- 
olulu. 

At Honolulu I got my first glimpse of real tropics, and I 
was enchanted. It was a glorious sensation for me that 
April morning when I saw these mid-Pacific islands, for the 
first time, rise before me out of a white-capped sea; clear- 
cut in an atmosphere which seems never to be blurred by 
mist. 

American energy, ambition and initiative have wrought 
great material changes in the islands and these, which were 
even then important, were brought to our admiring attention 

46 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

later on. I shall always think of Hawaii, — of the island 
of Oahu, rather, — as it appeared to me then when our ship 
steamed past Diamond Head, skirted the high breakers of 
Waikiki and made its way up through the bright waters of 
the bay into the harbour of Honolulu. Honolulu is a little, 
modern city lying, all in sight, against the green of a narrow, 
gently-sloping, peak-encircled valley. 

The Punchbowl, a spent and emptied volcano, outlined in 
perfect form against the higher hills behind it, plainly tells 
the story of the spectacular construction of the islands and 
makes it almost possible to visualise their sudden rise from 
the sea. They are not very old, according to scientific meas- 
urements of time, but they are old enough, at any rate, to 
have clothed themselves in the most brilliant luxuriance, 
which is the first thing to impress the traveller as his ship sails 
into the harbour. 

The brilliance from the ship's deck is the brilliance of 
every imaginable shade of green, massed against the tower- 
ing, pointed hills and picked into contrasts of high-light and 
shadow by a sun and atmosphere peculiar to the tropics. 
Once ashore, the green foliage becomes the background for 
a wealth of blooming flowers, flowers everywhere, of un- 
numbered different varieties, with the flaming hibiscus in 
every garden, striking the high note of colour. Until we left 
Honolulu laden with "leis" — long festoons of flower petals 
which are thrown upon the shoulders of departing friends 
and visitors — there were always flowers. 

And with the flowers and the foliage and the tall palm 
trees and the warm tropic sunlight, there is music, the music 
of the native which greets one in welcome at the dock and 
contributes constantly to the spirit of festivity until the 
departing ship gets too far from shore to catch the strains of 
the farewell song "Aloha" whose closing words : "Until we 
meet, until we meet again," linger long in the mind of the 
grateful recipient of Hawaiian hospitality. 

47 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The first thing we were to learn when our ship came up 
into the harbour was that the bubonic plague had been epi- 
demic in Honolulu for a long time. It was our first en- 
counter with this terror of the East. There had been 
seventy-one cases in all, and sixty-one deaths. Six 
Europeans had contracted the disease and of these four 
had died. When we dropped anchor we were at once 
boarded by the local health officer, Dr. Carmichael of 
the Marine Hospital Service, who was accompanied by 
United States Minister Sewell and Consul General Hay- 
ward. They wanted us to land, of course, and we were 
very anxious to do so, but as the quarantine was not yet 
raised they could not answer for the attitude of the Japanese 
health officers when we got to Yokohama. Our going ashore 
might result in a long detention in quarantine for ourselves 
and, aside from the discomfort of this, we could not afford 
the delay. There was no particular danger for us per- 
sonally, since no new cases had been reported for twenty- 
four days, but it was all a question of being able to land later 
in Japan. It was really too much of a disappointment; 
there was not a dissenting voice on that score, and Honolulu 
kept getting more and more attractive as the possibility 
dawned on us that we might not see it at all. But it was 
arranged. We sent for the Japanese vice-Consul and ex- 
plained matters to him and he finally agreed to hold himself 
responsible for our breaking the quarantine, in so far as it 
concerned Japan, if we would keep our ship out in the stream 
instead of tying up at the dock, and permit no member of 
the crew to go ashore during our stay. This we readily 
agreed to do and made our plans accordingly. We, too, 
were to live on board the Hancock, but there were any num- 
ber of harbour launches put at our disposal. 

We were received by the Americans in Honolulu with the 
utmost cordiality and immediately found ourselves sharing 
the exhilarating suspense with which the people were then 

48 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

awaiting the passage of the bill in Congress which was to 
make the Hawaiian Islands a part of the United States. 
The first thing the Commission did was to call on President 
Dole, of the provisional republican government, and with 
him they met the Ministers of the Treasury and the Interior, 
Mr. Damon and Mr. Young. Indeed, we met all the people 
who had the affairs of the islands in hand and were most 
delightfully entertained by them. We found them of one 
mind, just anxiously waiting to be annexed to the United 
States. The men, who realised the importance of our mis- 
sion to the Philippines, were eager to foregather with the 
Commission and discuss with them, long and earnestly, this 
broad American venture and its possible effect upon the fu- 
ture prosperity of the Hawaiian Islands, but in so far as I 
was concerned, nothing in the way of state problems was 
allowed to intrude itself upon their purely social hospitality. 
There were dinners and luncheons and teas and receptions, 
and, in the intervals, sight-seeing. 

There are a number of entertaining things to do in Hon- 
olulu and while I do not wish to make this, in any way, a 
book of travel, I must record my impressions of the world as 
they came to me. 

The Hawaiian Islands have a background of romantic 
history which makes the museums, the public buildings and 
even the cemeteries of the capital extremely interesting. Be- 
sides all of which there are some wonderful views which 
every one must see. 

The trip to Nuuani Pali is the first thing to be undertaken 
in Honolulu, perhaps because it is the greatest thing on the 
island of Oahu. We didn't know what the Pali was, — had 
no idea. It was just the place to go, so we went, — the very 
first day. We drove up the valley over a perfect road which 
wound in and out past beautiful, palm-shaded country 
homes, and along the bank of a noisy, crystal-clear little 
mountain stream, until we came to a point which looked to 

49 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

me like the "jumping off place." And it is; the "jumping 
off place" is the Pali. The road turns sharp around the solid 
rock wall of the cliff and winds its way on down into the val- 
ley on the other side, but it is a distinct surprise to find that 
it doesn't end right there. The Pali is the Pass of the 
Winds; the meeting place of all the young hurricanes of the 
Pacific. They say the winds in the Pali are never still. 
We were flattened out against the wall of the cliff, our hats 
were torn from our heads and we had to hold onto our coats 
for dear life, but before us lay one of the grandest spectacles 
in the whole world. Coral-tinted, purple, rose and bright- 
blue sea; beetling, pointed, terrible cliffs, and a broad, green 
plain running down to a surf-washed ribbon of beach; a pan- 
orama as wide as the compass of vision. I have been back 
since then thinking that, on first sight, I might have over- 
estimated the grandeur of the Pali. But I didn't. It is 
one of the world's great views. And it has its touch of sav- 
age history too. It was up these hills and over the cliffs of 
the Pali that King Kamehameha drove to certain death the 
offending hordes in arms against his sovereignty. There was 
no escape for them. Once in this pass they had either to go 
over the precipice or back against the spears of the enemy. 
This being history, and not myth, it adds much to the thrill 
of the spectacle. 

After a visit to the indescribable "aquarium of the painted 
fishes" — painted, I suppose, by the bright sun-rays in the 
coral shallows of the tropic seas — we went, as guests of Mr. 
Carter, a prominent member of the American colony, who 
afterward became governor of the islands, out to Waikiki 
Beach for surf-bathing,— or, surf-riding, as it is more aptly 
called. 

Surf-riding at Waikiki Beach is a great game. In the first 
place the surf there doesn't look as if any human being would 
dare venture into it; but when you see a beautiful, slim, 
brown native, naked save for short swimming trunks, come 

5° 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

gliding down a high white breaker, poised like a Mercury, 
erect on a single narrow plank — it looks delightfully exhil- 
arating. It took me some time to make up my mind, but 
after sufficient persuasion I finally decided to risk my life 
with the others. Dressed in bathing suits, we were taken 
out beyond the line of breakers in long canoes with outriggers 
and, with a native at prow and stern armed with broad 
paddles to guide the craft, we rode in on the crest of the 
waves. Even this modified version of the natives' foolhardy 
performance is dangerous enough. There is every likelihood 
of an upset and not any of us could be said to swim expertly, 
so there was great excitement when one member of the party 
after another was plunged, out of depth, into the foaming 
and seething water. Two members of our party, indeed, had 
a narrow escape, though we didn't know it at the time. Gen- 
eral Wright and Judge Ide were capsized in a particularly 
vicious breaker and Judge Ide at once began to make frantic 
efforts to attract attention and secure aid, but in the confu- 
sion his signs of distress were taken for indications of vast 
enjoyment and he would have been left to drown if he hadn't 
been washed ashore by the force of the surf. General 
Wright, though much the better swimmer, had no less diffi- 
culty, and they were both quite white and shaken when they 
crawled up on the beach. 

We stayed four days in this "Paradise of the Pacific," dur- 
ing which we made many interesting trips, were introduced 
to many strange Hawaiian customs and were regaled with 
many feasts, not always, I may say, particularly appetizing. 
I have had in my time, for politeness' sake, to eat various 
queer messes in all sorts of odd corners of the earth, but to 
me "poi" will always be "poi" — in a class by itself. It is 
the true Hawaiian dish and is offered to guests by the natives 
in the same spirit of compliment with which we offer to 
"break bread" with our friends. It is the custom for Amer- 
icans residing in Honolulu to introduce visitors to this dish, 

5* 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and the native viands which go with it, in entertainments 
which are called "poi dinners," and we were treated to as 
many of these as our time would permit. "Poi" bears an 
unpleasant outward resemblance to cockroach paste and, try- 
as I would, I was never able to cultivate a taste for it. But 
foreigners do learn to like it, for I found Americans in Hon- 
olulu eating it with the greatest relish and dipping it up 
with their fingers in true Hawaiian style. 

On our last evening in Honolulu, after a morning of sight- 
seeing, a luncheon, an hour in the buffeting surf, and a large 
tea-party, we were given a particularly elaborate "poi din- 
ner" where we all sat on the floor and at which all the guests 
appeared in native costume with "leis" around their necks 
and in their hair. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. 
Mott Smith, sent the Hawaiian Band, whose leader came out 
from old Emperor William to King Kalakaua, and they sere- 
naded us with most wonderful Hawaiian music, interspersed, 
for their own pride's sake, with well rendered selections from 
the finest operas. The girls came in flaming bright "Mother- 
Hubbard" dresses, crowned and covered with "leis," to dance 
for us the curious folk-lore dances of the old-time. It was 
a delightful whirl of music and lights and colour — added to 
fish and poi and a cramped position — but I was tired enough 
not to be sorry when the time came for the singing of "Aloha 
Oe" and our departure for the ship which lay out in the 
harbour ready to up-anchor at daybreak and start on its way 
to Japan. 

On the evening of the tenth of May we reached the estuary 
near the head of which is Yokohama and further on is Tokio. 
For at least two hours we steamed past a low-lying shore line 
before we came in sight of the sweep of steep cliff to the 
southward which forms the great outer harbour. 

There was just one thing that we could really look at; 
one insistent, dominant point in the landscape which caught 
us and held us fascinated, — Fujiyama. I had seen Fuji- 

5 2 








.***■ 






NIKKO. AN ANCIENT CRYPTOMERIA AVENUE AND A GLIMPSE 
OF THE FAMOUS TEMPLES 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

yama on screens and fans and porcelains all my life, but I 
had no conception of it. For one half hour this "Queen of 
Mountains" — rightly called — rising thirteen thousand feet 
out of sheer sea-level, perfect in form, snow-capped, majestic, 
blazed for us against the western sky. Then a cloud curtain 
fell, — and the sun went down. 

As we steamed up close to the breakwater in the grey light 
of late evening we could see nothing but the dark outlines of 
many ships and a long row of substantial looking buildings, 
under high arc lights, stretching along a wide, water-front 
street which I was afterward to know as The Bund. 

We wanted to go ashore, but it was not possible. We had 
to lie outside the breakwater and wait for the doctors to come 
aboard. "Wait for the doctors to come aboard;" how fa- 
miliar that proceeding becomes to the traveller among the 
ports of the East, and especially, of Japan. You arrive at 
Yokohama and are examined there; you go just around the 
bend of the coast line and arrive at Kobe and you are exam- 
ined there; you go on through the Inland Sea to Nagasaki 
and again you are examined. Wherever you arrive in this 
land of much caution you must "wait for the doctors to come 
aboard." 

But our doctors didn't keep us waiting long. About eight 
o'clock half a dozen of them, important little men with much 
gold-lace, came smiling up the gangway. We worried, 
rather, about the plague we had braved, — and we did hope 
none of our crew would develop symptoms, — but, having 
faith in the Japanese Vice-Consul in Honolulu, we hoped for 
special leniency. We were not disappointed. They exam- 
ined the ship's company with great care, but our examination 
was a mere formality, a sort of apologetic enumeration as a 
matter of fact, and after giving us a clean bill of health the 
doctors bowed themselves most courteously away. But we 
had a narrow escape. Charlie's nurse developed a suspicious 
sore throat the very next afternoon and gave us many days 

53 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of anxiety for the baby and the other children. And, as 
I shall make plain further on, our anxiety was not without 
cause. 

In reading over my own and my husband's letters, written 
on that trip to various members of the family, I find that 
Charlie was very much in evidence at all times. I suppose 
he was spoiled because, certainly, everybody took a hand in 
his misguidance, but the spoiling process at least kept him in 
high good humour, unless it happened to take the form of 
secret indulgence in prohibited sweets; then I had to meet the 
consequences. I find my husband writing to his brother 
Charles : "Charlie continues to be as full of spirits and as 
determined to have his own way as ever. We call him 
'the tornado' ; he creates such a sensation when he lands in 
the midst of the children on board the ship. He is very 
badly in need of discipline and I long for the time to come 
when he will be better able to appreciate it. Maria has be- 
come quite as much a slave to him as Nellie and you may tell 
his Aunt Annie that I am still the only hope the boy has of 
moral training." This sounds so much like the average 
father that I thought I ought to quote it. 

When Bessie, Charlie's nurse, was taken away from him 
and quarantined we got for him a Japanese "amah" who 
filled him at first with indignation, not unmixed with fear. 
But she was so patient, and followed him around so much 
like a faithful watchdog, that he grew to be exceedingly fond 
of her and straightway proceeded to exchange his small 
English vocabulary for, to him, more useful Japanese words. 

The first thing to claim our attention in Yokohama Har- 
bour was the American cruiser Newark, the Admiral's flag- 
ship of the Asiatic fleet, with Admiral Kempff aboard. As 
soon as we came inside the breakwater she fired a salute of 
seventeen guns, and we wondered what it was all about, until 
suddenly we remembered that the Commissioners had the 
rank of ministers plenipotentiary and decided that it was 

54 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

meant for us. It was the first time in my husband's life that 
he had ever been saluted. In his later career he reached a 
point where he would have been almost willing to assume a 
disguise in order to escape the thunder of the twenty-one 
guns that roared at him whenever he approached a naval ves- 
sel of any kind, but I think he was rather elated by this first 
tribute to his official standing. 

We found later that an old friend, Captain McCalla, was 
in command of the Newark. We had known Captain 
McCalla in Washington when my husband was Solicitor 
General. He had been court-martialed and suspended from 
the Navy for a year for striking an unruly and insubordinate 
sailor and at his request Mr. Taft read the record of the 
court-martial. Mr. Choate had been his counsel, but the 
case Was given a great deal of unpleasant publicity. He dis- 
played such bravery at the Battle of Guantanamo, in Cuba, 
that the files he had lost were restored to him. He also 
rendered distinguished service in the Philippines, taking over 
the surrender of one of Aguinaldo's generals at Caygayan; 
and later on, in China, he was in the van of the allied troops 
that relieved Peking and was severely wounded. Being a 
man of broad intelligence and great enterprise he appreciated 
the importance of the Philippine Commission and lost no 
time in extending to them all the courtesies at his command. 

Shortly after we landed and got ourselves comfortably 
settled at the Grand Hotel, an ensign from the Newark came 
to ask when the Commission would receive the Admiral. 
The hour was set for this formality and when it had been 
duly disposed of, Captain, McCalla called on us unofficially, 
with much news for our hungry ears from the big world that 
we had known nothing about for eleven long days. That 
was before the wireless era when going to sea was really going 
to sea, and seldom has the world known a more exciting year 
than 1900. Grim talk about the terrible Boxer insurrection 
was on every tongue and Captain McCalla told us that the 

55 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Newark was lying in readiness to proceed to China at an in- 
stant's notice. The British were just then pressing the Boers 
northward in South Africa, and our own troubles in the Phil- 
ippines were by no means over. We had nearly seventy 
thousand troops in the field, and we heard of decisive en- 
gagements between the division under General Young and 
some religious fanatic insurrectos in northern Luzon. We 
found ourselves feeling very much in touch with big 
events. 

The Commission went out to the Newark to return the Ad- 
miral's call and when they got back to the hotel they were 
full of valuable information and advice about sightseeing 
in Japan, housekeeping in the Orient and other important 
things. Among other bits of news they had to tell their 
wives was that we would all probably be received at the 
Japanese Court, — which was quite exciting. 

My experience is that the most formal branch of the gov- 
ernment service is the naval branch. The state department 
may be as formal, but I doubt it. The ceremony on board 
naval vessels is constant, and the severity of the penalties 
for any failure to follow the regulations impresses itself upon 
every naval officer. Therefore, every naval officer must 
have diplomatic training and must be alert in finding out 
and in carrying out the duties of polite intercourse which 
prevail in every country. 

Captain McCalla regarded the Commissioners as pro-con- 
suls going to an important province, quite equal to the fore- 
most diplomatic representatives of the United States 
anywhere, and he thought it was incumbent upon them to 
make the fact of their presence in Japan known at the Im- 
perial Court and to apply for an audience with the Emperor. 
It hadn't occurred to them. Their minds were so full of 
the weighty problems confronting them at Manila that they 
had given no consideration to any possible intervening for- 
malities, and, anyhow, Mr. Taft said he thought the Emperor 

56 




s 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

wouldn't lose much sleep if he did miss seeing them. But 
this was not the proper attitude at all, and Captain McCalla, 
expostulating with them for their too casual conduct, finally 
prevailed upon them to communicate with the American 
Minister in Tokyo and ask to have application made for 
the audience. They were immediately informed that their 
arrival had been expected and that the matter had already 
been attended to. 

The Commission had only a week in Japan and, although 
their purpose in stopping had been to coal ship and get some 
clothing suitable for the tropic heat they were going into, 
they naturally were anxious to see something of the country 
during their stay, so the days were filled with expeditions 
around Yokohama and Tokyo and to points of interest 
nearby. My sister Maria and I did not accompany them 
on many of these trips because we were planning to remain 
in Japan for the summer and wanted to view its attractions 
at our leisure. 

The trip to Nikko was made memorable by Mr. Taft's 
most triumphal progress. On account of his unusual pro- 
portions he had already been an object of tremendous in- 
terest to the Japanese. 

Nikko is nearly a day's ride from Tokyo, up in the hills 
to the north, and when you get there you find that 
the railway station is a long way from the hotel and that 
much of the distance is a steep incline. The only kind of 
conveyance available is a jinricksha, and when my husband 
climbed into one of these little perambulators the unfortu- 
nate coolie to whom it belonged began to utter strange 
sounds. He rolled his eyes and gesticulated frantically un- 
til he prevailed upon a second man to help him in propelling 
his unaccustomed burden. But even then his excitement did 
not abate. As they approached the first rise in the road 
some of the villagers along the way, attracted, no doubt, by 
the coolie's weird cries, came out to stare and, as usual,, re- 

57 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

mained to laugh. The little 'ricksha man began chattering 
and grimacing at all of them and kept it up until he had en- 
listed the services of at least half the population of the vil- 
lage to help him in attaining the crest of the hill. 

Two days before the Hancock was to start on her way 
toward Manila the great event of our visit to Japan tran- 
spired. We had our audience with the Emperor and Em- 
press. 

The first thing the ladies all asked, of course, was, "What 
shall we wear?" It was a most important question. I sup- 
posed we should have to wear evening gowns and was con- 
gratulating myself that I had a very nice new one that would 
do beautifully. But only on the afternoon before the day 
appointed, it was decreed that we should appear in high- 
necked frocks with trains. That was more difficult, — es- 
pecially the trains. I didn't own an afternoon frock that 
I considered good enough. I was going to the tropics and 
had got a supply of thin white muslins and linens, but I 
had nothing that would do for a cold May day in Japan. 
Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Worcester and Mrs. Moses were as 
greatly concerned as I, but we finally managed. I solved 
the problem by having a Chinese dressmaker in Yokohama 
make me, overnight, a lace guimpe which I wore with my 
perfectly acceptable evening gown. 

Judge Ide had been particularly interested in the audience 
and in the fact that the ladies would also be received and he 
was very much chagrined when he found that "the ladies" 
meant only the wives of the Commissioners and that he could 
not take with him his two beautiful daughters. He quite 
lost interest in the whole proceeding, and we didn't blame 
him in the least. 

The Palace in Tokyo is not a "Forbidden City" literally, 
as the old palace in Peking used to be, but it looks from the 
outside just as "forbidden," or more so. It is surrounded 
by a wide, deep moat which is crossed at intervals by curved 

58 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and gracefully balustraded bridges. On the other side of 
the moat is a high stone wall. There is nothing of the pal- 
ace to be seen except a few low, tiled roofs which peep out 
from the midst of many trees. The Imperial gardens are 
vastly more impressive than the palaces, — there are several 
within the walled enclosure, — and I would have wanted to 
linger and really look at things if I had not been so keenly 
interested in the experience which awaited us. Our carriage 
hurried on over the beautiful drives, through the most en- 
trancing little artificial landscapes, past lakes full of little 
rock islands on which were perched tiny pavilions with up- 
tilted roofs and the most beautiful polished wood and snow- 
white paper windows. It was all most fascinating and much 
too wonderful to be merely glanced at, but it was only 
a few moments before we approached a low, grey building 
and drew up before the door. It didn't look at all like a 
palace, but it seemed that we had arrived. 

We were ushered into a large reception room which was 
neither Japanese nor European, but a curious mixture of 
both. The walls were of gold leaf and were decorated 
with beautiful Japanese paintings in exquisitely soft colour- 
ings, but the furniture was mostly of the heavy foreign type. 
It was unexpected to say the least and I thought what a pity 
it was that the Japanese had not met the European invasion 
in their own original and picturesquely beautiful style, in- 
stead of trying to conform to western customs, or rather, to 
engraft western customs upon their own unique orientalism. 
But so it is. They either like our ugly heaviness, or think 
they confer a polite compliment on us by adopting it. 

We were not kept waiting long. We were separated from 
the men of our party and were led into another room, much 
like the first, where the Empress awaited us attended by 
three or four ladies of her court. We curtseyed very low, 
not without difficulty on the part of most of us in spite of 
much practice, and after receiving a gracious smile and bow 

59 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

from Her Majesty, we were able to stand erect and observe 
her at our leisure. Both she and her ladies-in-waiting were 
dressed in European costume which made them look much 
smaller than they would have looked in their own beautiful 
kimonos. Her Majesty's face was sweet and almost timid 
looking, and her voice was peculiarly gentle. Our conver- 
sation, carried on through an interpreter, was commonplace 
in the extreme, but her manner was pleasant and cordial. 
I was tremendously interested because I had been reading 
Japanese history and was duly impressed with the hoary an- 
tiquity of this court of the Son of Heaven. The Empress 
addressed a few remarks to each of us, after which we curt- 
seyed again and retired. That was all. 

Our husbands were received in a similar manner by the 
Emperor, though His Majesty granted a separate interview 
to each of them. Mr. Taft entered first with the Minister 
of the Household in charge of the ceremony. He bowed 
when he entered the door, bowed again half way up the long 
room, and yet again when he arrived before the Emperor. 
The others, also bowing, followed close behind but remained 
just outside of the audience chamber while my husband's 
audience was in progress. Mr. Nagasaki, who acted as in- 
terpreter, said that His Majesty was very much pleased to 
see the Commission in Japan. Mr. Taft expressed his ap- 
preciation of the audience. The Emperor asked if he had 
ever been in Japan before. He said he had not. The Em- 
peror asked when he was going to leave Japan. He replied, 
"In two days, Your Majesty." After which this, his first 
audience with the Mikado, was at an end and he left the 
chamber while the rest of the Commissioners, each in his 
turn, went through the same ceremony. 

After our husbands had been received by the Empress also, 
they rejoined us and we were conducted through some other 
rooms in the palace which interested us greatly. They all 
showed a curious mingling of Japanese and European ob- 

60 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

jects of art and nobody could see them without deciding that, 
in that particular setting at least, the Japanese objects were 
far the more beautiful. 

The Japanese Court is much inclined to imitate things 
European and the results are sometimes astonishing. Years 
later, when my husband was in Japan without me, the Em- 
press presented him with a tapestry for me which had been 
copied from a Gobelin piece. It represented the meeting 
of Columbus and Isabella, and, it shows the most exquisite 
workmanship, but the faces have a curiously Oriental cast. 

There is a story in connection with this tapestry which I 
think I must tell. My husband was Secretary of War when 
it was presented to me; and I say me with emphasis, because 
thereby hangs the story. He brought it home and displayed 
it with great pride and satisfaction, but it was so enormous 
and, from my standpoint, so useless, that I rather protested 
and wondered why, as long as he was getting such a gorgeous 
present he couldn't have managed in some way to make its 
size correspond with my circumstances. 

"Oh, well," said he, "never mind. I'm going to present 
it to the Smithsonian Institute anyway, because you know, 
my dear, it is against the Constitution for an official in the 
United States government to accept any kind of favours from 
foreign courts." 

This was not the first time in my life that I had met the 
Constitution face to face, but theretofore I had been able to 
accept its decrees with what I had hoped was patriotic resig- 
nation. But now that tapestry suddenly became to me a 
most desirable thing. It had been sent to me by the Empress 
of Japan and I wanted to enjoy the mere possession of it, — 
at least for awhile. So, as my husband would say, I took 
the question up with him. I tried to convince him that I 
was not an official of the United States government and that 
he, as an official, had nothing whatever to do with my present 
from the Empress of Japan. He stood firmly by the Con- 

61 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

stitution, as usual, and eventually I had to submit the ques- 
tion for arbitration to President Roosevelt, who agreed with 
me that I was a private citizen and had a perfect right to 
accept the gift. I afterward hung it in one of the big wall 
spaces in the state dining-room of the White House and had 
the pleasure of watching many a guest vainly endeavouring 
to locate its origin and figure out its meaning. 

We concluded our first audience at the court of Japan 
by signing our names in the Imperial album, after which we 
went to the American Legation to a beautiful luncheon which 
the Minister had arranged in our honour. Our Minister in 
Tokyo then — it was some years before the Legation was 
raised to an Embassy — was Mr. Buck of Georgia, a most 
affable and agreeable gentleman. He had invited a number 
of his diplomatic collegues to meet us and, among others, we 
met for the first time Baron and Baroness Rosen, of the Rus- 
sian Legation, who were afterward with us in Washington. 

I sat on the right of the Minister and next to Baron Sano- 
miya, the Court Chamberlain, who had conducted our audi- 
ence. I was greatly interested in Baron Sanomiya's wife. 
She was an Englishwoman at least twice his size. 

At Mr. Taft's request the Minister had invited an old 
classmate of his, Baron Tajiri Inajiro. At Yale he was 
known as Tajiri, and the first two letters of both their 
names being "Ta" he and my husband had been brought 
together in the classroom, seated alphabetically, and had 
enjoyed a pleasant association. So Mr. Taft looked for- 
ward with great pleasure to renewing the acquaintance in 
Japan. Baron Tajiri, like most Japanese, was a little man, 
and his teeth were so formed that he was never able to 
master the pronunciation of English in such a way as to 
enable one to understand him easily. But he seems to have 
acquired at Yale a sound knowledge of business and 
finance since he became Assistant Minister of Finance un- 
der Yamagata and had taken an active part in the change 

62 



*-M 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of the Japanese currency from the silver to the gold 
standard, which was a great step in Japan's progress toward 
a place among the world's powers. He had been made a 
life peer and sat in the Upper House. At the luncheon he 
wore a frock coat which Mr. Taft felt confident he recog- 
nised as an old college friend of the 'seventies. In those 
days the Japanese wore their "foreign clothes" only on "for- 
eign occasions" or at court. They kept them carefully 
folded up and put away, and they had not yet come to rec- 
ognise the desirability of pressing them when they took them 
out for use. Also a silk hat once was a silk hat always; 
vintages didn't trouble them, and they didn't mind in the 
least which way the nap was brushed. 

Baron Tajiri wanted to be appointed Minister of Fi- 
nance when Yamagata retired, but he was put, instead, at 
the head of the Board of Audits, a life position. Mar- 
chioness, now Princess Oyama, wife of the Field Marshal, 
told my husband this on the occasion of his second visit to 
Japan, and said that the disappointment had made Tajiri 
very much of a recluse. In any case, Mr. Taft has never 
seen him again, although he has tried to seek him out and 
has made inquiry about him every time he has been in 
Japan. 

We were very much interested in our Legation at Tokyo. 
It was the first one we had ever seen that the American gov- 
ernment owned. The house was not what it ought to have 
been, but it was surrounded by spacious and beautifully kept 
grounds and was so much better than the nothing that we 
have in other countries that we liked to dwell upon it as an 
honourable exception to the disgraceful and miserly policy 
pursued by Congress in dealing with our representatives to 
foreign capitals. 

Mrs. Wright, with her daughter Katrina, had decided to 
remain with us in Yokohama for the summer, so we took a 
cottage together on The Bluff, a high foreign residence sec- 

63 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

tion of the city, and prepared to make ourselves most com- 
fortable. 

Two days later the Commissioners and the rest of the 
party went aboard the Hancock and we waved them good- 
bye from a harbour launch as they steamed away toward 
Manila. 



64 



CHAPTER IV 

IN JAPAN 

To be quarantined in a house too small for the number of 
its occupants, behind closed doors, each one of which bears 
aloft a sinister yellow placard across which is printed in 
large, black letters: "Diphtheria," is no way to begin a 
visit to a strange and interesting country. 

No sooner had Bessie, Charlie's nurse, been released from 
quarantine by the doctors in Yokohama than our older boy, 
Robert, developed suspicious symptoms which, upon diagno- 
sis, were pronounced to be diphtheritic. The sore throat 
began before Mr. Taft left for Manila, and he was loathe to 
go, but as the new serum treatment for diphtheria had robbed 
the disease of much of its terror, and as we were in the hands 
of an excellent American physician, Dr. Eldridge, I felt con- 
fident there was no cause for serious apprehension. 

We sent Helen and the baby to be taken care of at the 
Grand Hotel, while Mrs. Wright, Maria and I resigned our- 
selves to a long and tedious period of isolation. Robert's 
diphtheria did not develop to a dangerous stage, but the sore 
throat persisted and it was three weeks before we were re- 
leased upon a none-too-welcoming world. Our long quar- 
antine had marked us as objects to be avoided — in a social 
sense — even after the doctors had pronounced us safe. 

Mrs. Wright and my sister and I spent that entire three 
weeks only wishing that we were in our own land where 
some friendly voice might at least shout an inquiry about us 
from a distance, and not in this far-away place where only 
strange and very foreign sounds came floating in to us from 
curious and crowded streets whose every nook and corner 
we were aching to explore. 

Our house was charming. All the "foreign" houses in 
Japan seem to me to be charming. The solidity of Occi- 

65 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

dental construction, with the light touch of Japanese interior 
decoration, make a fascinating combination, especially in 
that environment. The Japanese landscape is — well, pe- 
culiarly Japanese, and the gardens, however "foreign" they 
may be, have an air quite unique and unmistakably oriental. 

The Foreign Settlement in Yokohama consists of a broad 
business section, solidly built, on the low lands fronting the 
harbour, and The Bluff. The Bluff is a garden of beautiful 
homes. At one end it rises high above the bay and com- 
mands a wide view of harbour, town and Pacific Ocean, while 
the other end runs inland to meet the higher hills beyond 
and forms a deep valley in which has been built up a teem- 
ing native quarter full of colour, of picturesque outline and 
of never-ending oriental clamour. Around this village are 
terraced, bright-green rice paddies and high hills covered 
with dark, Japanese pines which grow at curious angles. 

Our house, a spreading bungalow in a large and well- 
kept garden, was on the inland side and overlooked this 
valley. From a Buddhist temple on the opposite hill, a 
quaint structure with uptilted roof and great stone torii 
gateway, came the ceaseless drone of a priest repeating over 
and over an endless invocation to the constant, measured 
turn- turn accompaniment of little wooden drums, while from 
the narrow streets below rose the strange cries of itinerant 
food venders. Throughout the whole long evening sounded 
the long wail of the blind masseurs who, with their thump- 
ing bamboo sticks, tramp from door to door seeking patron- 
age. At intervals the single low tong of a great temple bell 
set the hills to vibrating. 

We rented the house from an Englishman who was "going 
home" on vacation, and with it we rented a complete menage, 
including a most efficient little Japanese woman named 
Matsu who served us both as waitress and housekeeper and 
answered to the call of "Amah!" — meaning either nurse or 

66 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

maid. Besides the Amah, there was only a cook, an ex- 
cellent one, but the two contrived to run the house with a 
smoothness and an economy which I have never seen 
equalled. They were so economical, in fact, that we had dif- 
ficulty in getting them to serve to us enough of their well- 
prepared food. There were six of us in family, not includ- 
ing Charlie, or Baby San as he was called, and at each meal 
Matsu would bring in just six portions of whatever there 
was, six chops, six croquettes, six little fishes, always six — 
no more. We resorted to strategy sometimes and an- 
nounced, well in advance, that there would be guests. 

"How many, O Ku San 1 ?" says Matsu cautiously. 

"Well, maybe two," says we. 

Whereupon we would get eight little chops, or eight little 
croquettes, or whatever it might be. But we couldn't play 
this game very often because we were afraid that if too 
many guests failed to materialise the time would come when 
we really would be giving a party and be forced to act out 
the "Wolf! Wolf!" story to our own very great embarrass- 
ment. I'm glad to say this never occurred; Matsu always 
obeyed orders ; but when an unexpected guest dropped in we 
had to exercise the principle of "family hold back" in real 
earnest. 

However, while Matsu was in command none of us had 
any cause for complaint. She had plenty of native shrewd- 
ness and didn't neglect her own interests to any appreciable 
extent, but she displayed none of the traditional oriental 
duplicity which we had been warned to look out for in all 
Japanese servants. She relieved us of all the responsi- 
bilities of housekeeping and left us free to wander around 
among the fascinating shops and to go off on long sight- 
seeing expeditions at our pleasure. 

While we were still in the midst of the miseries of quar- 
antine I got my first letter from my husband, and as he had 

67 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

sailed away into what to me then was a very far distant and 
somewhat unreal world, I was exceedingly glad to hear from 
him. 

The Hancock had stopped at Kobe and had then gone on 
to Nagasaki where it had to lie for two days taking on coal. 
The Commissioners seem to have begun by that time to chafe 
at delays and to long for their settled, definite employment. 
But they had to go to Hongkong on some business matters 
and it was from Hongkong that my first long letter came. 
They were received by the British authorities with the usual 
formality; pompous calls to be returned as pompously; din- 
ners, luncheons, club privileges, launch parties and much en- 
tertaining gossip; but they were interested, principally, in 
meeting for the first time the genus Filipino irreconcilable. 

The Filipinos, after three centuries of Christian educa- 
tion, which had taken the form of religious instruction only, 
had, with reason, risen in revolt against the Spanish system 
of friar domination and had demanded some measure of 
freedom and a voice in the control of their own affairs. 
This is a long and complicated story which can only be 
touched upon here. 

They were engaged in a hopeless struggle with Spanish 
authority when the Spanish-American War, unexpected, un- 
dreamed of, suddenly turned the tables and placed them in 
an entirely new situation. They saw Spain defeated and 
turned from the islands she had held since Magellan's first 
voyage, while another flag quickly rose above their ancient 
forts and strongholds. Then it was that the handful of am- 
bitious "illustrados," or well-to-do and educated ones, began 
freely to preach independence and were encouraged by not a 
few Americans, including some in official relation to the sit- 
uation, who, in complete ignorance of real conditions, 
approved the so-called aspiration and gave hope of its early 
fulfilment. 

The idea of these Americans was that our forefathers had 

68 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

fought for independence and that it was against our most 
cherished principles to hold any people against their will. 
But they didn't take into consideration the fact that the 
Filipinos were Malays, not ten per cent, of them with even 
a primary education, used only to a theocratic and absolute 
government and without any experience in the rule of the 
people. Nor did they consider that our forefathers had, for 
a century and a half before the revolution, been carrying on 
what was really self-government and were better fitted by 
training and tradition to make self-government work than 
any people in the world. They indulged in sentiment to 
the exclusion of thought; and so the situation was created. 

The idea of complete independence was never shouted 
from the housetops in Spanish times, but the new flag repre- 
sented free speech, a free press, and such freedom generally 
as the Filipinos had never dreamed of in their wildest aspira- 
tions and the "illustrados" and the men who had tasted 
power in the insurrection against Spain were not slow to take 
advantage of it. An alluring conception of independence, 
freedom from all restraint and the enjoyment of luxurious 
ease, really, was sent abroad among the densely ignorant 
masses by the handful who had education, with the result 
that by the time the American government was free really to 
face the issue, the demand for our immediate withdrawal 
was unanimous, or nearly so. 

But it couldn't be done. Aguinaldo tried his hand at a 
government for six months and failed miserably. Corrup- 
tion was rife. Chaos reigned; the country was impover- 
ished and absolutely unprotected; and it didn't take the 
Americans long to recognise the fact that "independence" 
meant nothing more nor less than the merciless exploitation 
of the many by the few and the establishment of worse con- 
ditions than any the people had ever known. 

So we stayed; there was nothing else to do; and the insur- 
rection against constituted authority was taken up where it 

69 



< RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

left off when Admiral Dewey steamed up Manila Bay. It 
was hopeless from the start, and one after another of the 
leading insurrectos, as the months went by, abandoned the 
struggle in favour of prosperous peace and came in to Manila 
to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. But as 
pacification progressed a few of the leaders declared them- 
selves to be "irreconcilable" and either took to the hills with 
marauding bands of ladrones, or went over to Hongkong 
.and joined the little Filipino colony there. This colony in 
Hongkong — which still exists, by the way — was known as 
the "junta" and its business in life was to hatch schemes for 
murderous uprisings, smuggle arms and incendiary literature 
into the islands, raise money for carrying on hostilities and 
make itself useful generally. 

The methods employed by these "irreconcilables" were 
peculiarly their own. They consisted, mainly, of coercion 
and threats of assassination among Filipino people who were 
staying at home and endeavouring to keep out of trouble. 
Then, too, they were reported to have made a great deal of 
money by compelling Filipino hemp and tobacco planters to 
sell to them these valuable products at prices fixed by them- 
selves, and later disposing of them in Hongkong at the reg- 
ular market price which gave them a tremendous margin of 
profit. 

These were the conditions — merely sketched — which ex- 
isted in the Philippine Islands when the second Commission 
was sent out, and the first Filpinos Mr. Taft ever met, he 
met in Hongkong. They were not members of the "junta" 
but were high-class, wealthy, non-combatant refugees named 
Cortez, who lived under a threat of assassination, who had 
had all their property confiscated because of their sympathy 
with the insurrection against Spain, had secured restitution 
through the government at Washington, and who came now 
to beg the Commission for protection against their own 

70 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

days, not so long after the country's doors were opened to 
the world. Her son was in the Legation service when I met 
her and she had a charming house on the Bund, in which was 
gathered a remarkable collection of Japanese curios and 
objects of art. Mrs. Scidmore was then nearly eighty years 
of age I think, but she was as bright and young as a 
woman of fifty. The last time I saw her she was nearly 
ninety and she entertained us at luncheon in Nagasaki, where 
her son was American Consul. She dresses with as much 
care and is as interested in fashions and fabrics as any girl, 
and it is a rare pleasure to see her, with her snowy hair piled 
up on her head and a white silk gown spread out about her, 
sitting in the centre of a group of people discussing, with 
great animation and entire comprehension, general topics of 
current interest. She afterward went to "keep house" for 
her son in Seoul, Korea, where he became Consul General, 
and she continues to be a sort of uncrowned queen of foreign 
society. 

Leaving our children at the bungalow with their nurses, 
Mrs. Wright, Maria and I went about, to Nikko, to Kama- 
kura, to Kyoto and other interesting places, and we spent 
the intervals, indeed all our time, in restraining our intense 
desire to purchase everything we saw in the extraordinarily 
attractive little shops. 

About the last of July, when the heat began to be rather 
more than we could stand, we left Yokohama and went up 
into the Hakone Mountains to Miyanoshita. The trip to 
Miyanoshita includes a two hours' climb in 'rickshas up a 
steep incline from a. village on the railway, where there was 
then no sort of accommodation for "Europeans," — only 
Japanese inns which, though they may have been excellent 
from a Japanese standpoint, did not seem to us to have been 
built for inn purposes. When we got out of the train it was 
seven o'clock in the evening. There were Mrs. Wright and 
her maid, her daughter Katrina, my sister Maria, the three 

75 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

children, Bessie the nurse, and I. We wanted din- 
ner above all things else and we decided to get it. It all 
had to be prepared "European style" at one of the little 
inns, so by the time it was served and disposed of the 
night was upon us, and, I may say, the blackest night I 
ever remember seeing. We debated at length the 
possibility of taking the two hours' 'ricksha ride in such 
darkness, but the chattering coolies, mainly by gesture and 
facial expression, succeeded in convincing us that it was 
the most desirable thing in the world to do. Incidentally, 
and aside from our objection to the bedless inns, we were 
most anxious to reach our journey's end. So — we set out, 
in eight 'rickshas, six for us and two piled high with hand 
luggage. I put Helen and Robert together in one and took 
Charlie in with me, and each of us had an extra man behind 
to push, also two men each for the baggage 'rickshas, which 
made sixteen men in all. We made quite a cavalcade and 
I felt fairly satisfied, not to say mildly festive, until we got 
away from the lights of the town and discovered, to our 
amazement, that for some reason or other, the 'ricksha men 
had failed to bring lights. I believe the idea was that they 
could keep the road better without them. We went along 
for a short distance in the Stygian darkness, then Maria de- 
cided that she wouldn't have it. Whatever we might do, 
she was going back for a lantern. We were not in an argu- 
mentative mood, so we let her go without a word, while we 
plunged on. 

By that time the wind was tearing down through what 
seemed to be a very deep, and what certainly was a very 
dark, canyon, and it was raining steadily. My coolies 
lagged behind and the first thing I knew I found myself 
entirely alone. The others had gone so far ahead that I 
couldn't even hear the sound of their 'ricksha wheels, though 
the 'ricksha of those days was a very noisy little vehicle. I 
had been nearly two months in Japan, had had plenty of 

76 




HELEN TAFT IN JAPANESE COSTUME 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

.experience with 'ricksha coolies and I knew them to be the 
most inoffensive little men in the world, but the darkness 
and the wind-driven rain and the discomfort generally, must 
have got on my nerves because I began to be perfectly sure 
that my two men were nothing less than brigands and that 
the separation from my party was a prearranged plan for 
murder and robbery. I didn't know how wide the road was, 
but I knew that on one side there was a very deep chasm 
because I could hear the roar of a mountain torrent far down 
and directly below me. Then the coolies chattered and 
grunted incessantly, as Japanese coolies always do, and I 
was convinced that they were arguing about which should 
take the initiative in violence. But I sat tight and said 
nothing, which was the only thing I could do, of course — 
except to soothe Charlie who was crying with discomfort and 
fright — and after awhile — ages it seemed to me — I came 
upon the rest of my party where they had halted in the road 
to give their men a breathing spell. I couldn't see them; I 
couldn't even make out the outlines of a 'ricksha, but I could 
hear Helen sobbing and stammering something about having 
lost her mother for good and all. 

The coolies were chattering at each other at a terrific rate 
and I judged, from their tones, that they liked the night 
no better than we. While we were standing close together 
in the road, all talking at once and trying to tell each other 
what horrible experiences we had had, we saw a faint 
glimmer away in the distance, growing more and more 
distinct as it came- up the long hill. It was the dauntless 
Maria with a light. We fell upon her with the warmest 
welcome she probably ever received in her life, and every- 
body at once cheered up. Even the coolies got happier and 
seemed to chatter less angrily in the lantern's dim but com- 
forting yellow glow. Nor did we separate again. Every- 
body wanted to keep close to that light. It revealed to us 
the reassuring fact that the road was, at least, wide enough 

77 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

for safety, and so we rolled soggily along, with no other 
sound but the rattle of many wheels and the splash of mud, 
until we arrived at the Fujiya Hotel, sometime after ten 
o'clock, in a state of utter exhaustion. 

I am not going to describe Miyanoshita because it has been 
very well done by scores of writers, but I will say that the 
Fujiya Hotel, away up in the mountains, at the head of a 
glorious canyon, is one of the most splendidly situated, finely 
managed and wholly delightful places I ever saw. 

And there are plenty of things to do. We were carried 
in chairs over a high mountain pass to Lake Hakone, which, 
still and bright as a plate-glass mirror, lies right at the base 
of Fujiyama and reflects that startlingly beautiful mountain 
in perfect colour and form. 

Then there are temples and wayside shrines, and tea- 
houses — tea-houses everywhere. We were coming back from 
a tramp one day and stopped at a tea-house not far from our 
hotel where we encountered an Englishwoman who gave us 
our first conception of what the terrible Boxer Insurrec- 
tion was like. She entered into talk with us at once and told 
us a most tragic story. She was a missionary from the in- 
terior of China and had been forced to flee before the Boxers 
and make her way out of the country in hourly peril and 
through scenes of the utmost horror. Her husband had 
elected to remain at his post and she didn't then know but 
that he might already have died under the worst imaginable 
torture. She made our blood run cold and we were tre- 
mendously sorry for her, though she did tell her harrowing 
story calmly enough. It seems she had with her a young 
Chinese refugee who was a convert to Christianity and, be- 
cause of that fact, in even more danger in China than she. 

We expressed our sympathy and good wishes and con- 
tinued on our way. But we hadn't gone far when we heard 
a frantic shouting behind us : 

78 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"Have you seen my Chinaman! Have you seen my 
Chinaman anywhere on the way !" 

It was the missionary, distracted and running violently 
after us; and, we had not seen her Chinaman. She rushed 
past and up into the woods faster than one would have 
thought she could run, and all the time she kept calling, 
"Joseph! Joseph!" at the top of her voice. We decided 
that Joseph was the Chinaman's new Christian name since we 
had heard that they all get Biblical names at baptism. We 
hastened along, thinking she might have gone suddenly mad 
and we wondered what in the world we should do. But as 
we came around a bend in the road we saw her coming 
toward us with a grinning little queued heathen marching 
meekly before her. She was looking very much relieved and 
stopped to explain her rather extraordinary conduct. 

"I was perfectly certain that boy had committed suicide," 
she began. 

"Why, what made you think that?" I asked. 

"Well, he wrote that, and I found it!" And she thrust 
into my hand a piece of paper on which was scrawled in 
printed characters : 

Just as I am, without one plea, 
Save that Thy blood was shed for me, 
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 

She explained that Joseph had had a great deal of trouble ; 
was away from his people; that Chinamen didn't care any- 
thing about their lives anyhow ; and that she had been afraid 
for some time that he would grow despondent and do some- 
thing desperate. 

But there stood Joseph, broadly smiling and looking for all 
the world like an oriental cherub who would have liked very 
much to know what all the commotion was about. Poor 

79 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

chap, he didn't understand a word of English and had been 
merely trying to learn the words of an English hymn by 
copying them, in carefully imitated letters, on bits of paper. 

In the meantime my husband had arrived in Manila and 
had already sent me several letters through which I came 
gradually to know something of the situation he was facing. 

The principal impression I received was that between the 
Commission and the military government, in the person of 
General Arthur MacArthur, there did not exist that har- 
mony and agreement which was considered to be essential to 
the amicable adjustment of Philippine affairs. In other 
words, General MacArthur seemed to resent the advent of 
the Commission and to be determined to place himself in 
opposition to every step which was taken by them or con- 
templated. It was not very easy for the Commissioners, 
but as far as I can see now, after a careful reading of all 
the records, they exercised the most rigid diplomacy at times 
when it would have been only human to have risen up and 
exercised whatever may be diplomacy's antithesis. 

The description of the arrival of the Commission made 
me rather wish I had accompanied them; — except for the 
heat. It was June and my husband said the sun beat down 
upon and came right through the heavy canvas awnings on 
the decks of the Hancock. The men had, by this time, be- 
come accustomed to their ill-fitting white linens, but they 
had not yet mastered the art of keeping them from looking 
messy, and they must have been a wilted company during 
their first few days in Manila. 

They came up into the harbour on Sunday and during the 
course of the day received many interesting visitors. Gen- 
eral MacArthur was not among them, but he sent a member 
of his staff, Colonel Crowder, to present his compliments and 
make arrangements for the going ashore ceremony the next 
day. Then came the Americanistas, as the Filipinos who 
sympathised with American control were called. These had 

80 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

been recognised by General Otis before General MacArthur 
had arrived and many of them have always been promi- 
nently associated with the American government in the 
Islands. Among others were Chief Justice Arellano, Mr. 
Benito Legarda and Mr. Pardo de Tavera. The Commis- 
sioners talked about the situation with these gentlemen, 
through Mr. Arthur Fergusson, the Spanish Secretary of the 
Commission, and found them not altogether despondent, but 
certainly not optimistic about the outcome. They thought 
the Commissioners were facing very grave problems indeed, 
if not insurmountable difficulties. 

The next day — "just when the sun got the hottest," wrote 
Mr. Taft — all the launches in the harbour gathered around 
the Hancock, many whistles blew, many flags and pennants 
fluttered, and the Commission was escorted to the shore. 
They entered the city with great pomp and circumstance, 
through files of artillerymen reaching all the way from the 
landing at the mouth of the Pasig River, up a long drive- 
way, across a wide moat, through an old gateway in the city 
wall and up to the Palace of the Ayuntamiento where Gen- 
eral MacArthur, the Military Governor, had his offices. 
But it was not a joyous welcome for all that. All the show 
was merely perfunctory; a sort of system that had to be 
observed. Their reception was so cool that Mr. Taft said 
he almost stopped perspiring. There were few Filipinos to 
be seen, and as General MacArthur's reception to the Com- 
mission was anything but cordial or enthusiastic they began 
to feel a discomforting sense of being decidedly not wanted. 

If they had any doubts on this point General MacArthur 
soon cleared them up. He frankly assured them that he 
regarded nothing that had ever happened in his whole career 
as casting so much reflection on his position and his ability 
as their appointment under the direction of the President. 
They suggested that he could still rejoice in considerable 
honour and prestige as a man at the head of a division of 

81 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

more troops than any general had commanded since the 
Civil War and that he was, moreover, still enjoying the 
great power of Chief Executive of the Islands. 

"Yes," said he, "that would be all right if I hadn't been 
exercising so much more power than that before you came." 

Whereupon Mr. Taft gently reminded him that he had 
been exercising that power for about three weeks only and 
said he hoped he had not become, in that time, so habituated 
to the situation as to prevent his appreciating the rather 
exalted position in which he would still be left. They 
afterward exchanged some correspondence as to what powers 
each did have, but they seemed to have disagreed from the 
first. 

General MacArthur succeeded General Otis in command 
of the United States Army in the Philippines and he had 
fallen heir to a policy with which he was entirely out of 
sympathy. General Otis had scattered the troops in small 
divisions and detachments all over the Islands, and General 
MacArthur found himself in command of about seventy 
thousand men, but with only a few regiments where he could 
lay his hands on them for action in his own immediate vicin- 
ity. He believed that the only way to get rid of the preda- 
tory bands and bring order out of a chaotic state, was to 
concentrate the army on the island of Luzon where most 
of the active insurrectos operated. And he thought it would 
be many years before the Filipinos would be ready for any- 
thing but the strictest military government. But the trouble 
was that thousands of Filipinos all over the Islands had 
already sworn fealty to the United States, or had gone 
quietly back to work, and it was known that the lives of 
many of these would not be worth a moment's purchase if 
the protection of the American troops was withdrawn from 
them. That was the situation. 

The last engagement between real insurgents and Ameri- 
can troops had taken place in February before the Commis- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

sion arrived. There had been men of some ability and real 
patriotism in Aguinaldo's cabinet and among his followers 
at Malolos, but by this time the best of them had come in 
and taken the oath of allegiance to the United States, others 
were in prison slowly making up their minds as to whether 
they would or would not follow this course, while still others 
had gone over to Hongkong to join in the activities of the 
"junta." Aguinaldo was still roaming around the mountain 
fastnesses of Luzon, posing as a dictator and issuing regular 
instructions to his lieutenants for the annihilation of Ameri- 
can regiments; but the insurrection had degenerated. 

The companies of men who still kept the field did so, for 
the most part, because they found that the easiest way to 
make a living. Money was getting scarce and the people 
were steadily refusing to contribute to the cause. A letter 
from one of Aguinaldo's lieutenants was intercepted in 
which he said that he had found a certain town obdurate and 
that he thought it would be necessary to take four or five 
lives before the people could be induced to give money. 
Murder and rapine, torture and robbery; these were the 
methods employed, and very little of the money realised 
ever found its way into the general revolutionary coffers. 
Most of the remaining "patriots" had become ladrones and 
were harrying their own people much more than they were 
opposing the American forces. 

These conditions led the Commission to think the time had 
come to organise a native constabulary, under American 
officers, with which thoroughly to police the Islands. But 
General MacArthur did not agree with them; thought it 
would be folly to trust any Filipino with arms and cited 
instances of where those who had been armed as scouts had 
proved entirely untrustworthy. But the suggestion was 
received by many of his own officers with the utmost ap- 
proval and one man, in the Ilocos country in northern Luzon, 
said he had only to issue a call and he could have five thou- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

sand as loyal men as ever wore uniform enlisted in twenty- 
four hours. I may say here that the Filipino people are 
divided into a number of distinct tribes and that some of 
these never did take much, if any, part in the insurrection. 
The insurrection is to-day referred to as the Tagalog rebel- 
lion, the Tagalogs being one of the principal tribes, though 
not the largest. 

There had always been a great number, a majority in fact, 
of Filipinos who did not like the awful conditions created 
by the insurrection and who easily could be persuaded to an 
attitude of loyalty toward any decent and peaceful gov- 
ernment; and it was from this number that the Commission 
wanted to recruit a native constabulary. But no. The 
Commission would not begin to exercise such powers as it 
had until September and in the meantime General Mac- 
Arthur was absolute and in answer to this proposition he 
merely reiterated his belief that the only way to meet the 
situation was with additional American troops. 

In my husband's earliest letters he characterised the 
Filipino people much as he did after years of experience 
with them. He wrote me that of the six or seven millions 
of Christian Filipinos about two per cent, were fairly well 
educated, while all the rest were ignorant, quiet, polite 
people, ordinarily inoffensive and light-hearted, of an artistic 
temperament, easily subject to immoral influences, quite 
superstitious and inclined, under the direction of others, to 
great cruelty. He thought them quite capable of becom- 
ing educated and that they could be trained to self-govern- 
ment. He was inclined to think that they had, because of 
their environment and experience under Spanish rule, capac- 
ity for duplicity, but he did not think they had the Machia- 
vellian natures which people attributed to them. Some of 
those who call themselves "illustrados" — the higher class — 
took to political intrigue with great gusto. 

Almost the first experience which the Commission had 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

with Filipino Machiavellian methods involved them in a 
complication which might have proved quite serious. If 
there is one thing in the world that the Filipino people, as 
one man, love, it is a fiesta. A fiesta is a holiday, a celebra- 
tion with music, marching, many flags, best clothes and 
plenty of high-flown speechmaking. Now there was one 
Pedro A. Paterno, an unctuous gentleman, who, while he 
had taken the oath of allegiance and had fairly put himself 
in the pocket of American authority, was still supposed to 
be more or less in sympathy with Aguinaldo. He made 
himself the mediator between General MacArthur and 
Aguinaldo and occasionally promised Aguinaldo's surrender. 
Nobody ever knew what he promised Aguinaldo, but it was 
known to a certainty that he was "carrying water on both 
shoulders" and doing his best to keep in well with both sides. 
He had played the same role in Spanish times. He made 
what is known in history as "The Peace of Biacnabato," 
between the insurrectos and the Spanish government, by the 
simple means of "interpreting" to each the demands of the 
other in perfectly satisfactory terms. He did all the trans- 
lating, on both sides, himself and the "Peace" was signed. 
Then before its irregularities were made clear he asked of the 
Spanish government, as his reward, a dukedom and a mil- 
lion dollars upon which to live up to the title. His letter to 
the Spanish governor is still extant. 

This gentleman one day, out of a clear sky, proposed what 
he called an Amnesty Fiesta; a grand banquet in honour of 
General MacArthur to follow a day of celebration and all- 
round relaxation from the strain of hostilities. General 
MacArthur didn't see that it would do any harm, but said he 
would not attend the banquet in his honour and that all the 
speeches that were to be made would have to be carefully 
censored. To this Pedro readily agreed and went imme- 
diately to work to make elaborate preparations for the occa- 
sion. He got a committee together and sent them to wait 

85 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

on the Commission with an invitation to the banquet. Only 
three of the Commissioners were in town, but these, after 
making careful inquiry as to the nature of the entertainment 
and discovering that no incendiary speech-making was to be 
allowed, decided to accept the invitation. Paterno was in 
high feather and nothing but the fiesta and the banquete 
was talked about for days. But gradually information 
began to reach the ears of Mr. Taft that all was not as it 
should be. He learned that arches were being erected 
across certain streets bearing inscriptions that were insulting 
to the American flag. One arch, in front of Malacafian 
Palace, where General MacArthur lived, had a picture of 
President McKinley on one side and a picture of Aguinaldo 
on the other, and it was said that General MacArthur had 
ridden under this arch without noticing it. That would be 
taken for sanction by an ignorant Filipino. But as soon as 
notice was called to them all the objectionable features of 
the arches were removed and preparations went on. But 
rumours kept coming in about the speeches until Mr. Taft 
became curious. He went to General MacArthur and asked 
who was doing the censoring. 

"Why, Pedro Paterno," said the General; as much as to 
say, "What more could you ask?" 

Mr. Taft went back to the office and straightway set about 
to get copies of those speeches. And, he got them. Some 
of them were already in type at a local newspaper office and 
were to be printed in full the next morning. This was the 
day of the fiesta and it was proving a very quiet affair. 
There was little enthusiasm on the streets, but there was 
plenty of interest in the coming banquete. The Commis- 
sioners looked over all the speeches and found them, without 
exception, seditious in the extreme. So, of course, they could 
not go to the banquet. They could not sit by and listen to 
misrepresentations without getting up immediately and mak- 
ing vigorous denial and protest and they could not lend the 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

sanction of their presence to an entertainment that had been 
so arranged. The banquete was in General MacArthur's 
honour and the speeches glowingly promised everything 
short of immediate evacuation and complete independence. 

The Commissioners wrote a polite little note to Senor 
Paterno and said they were very sorry to find that it was not 
possible, under the circumstances, for them to be present that 
evening. 

Mr. Taft and General Wright were living together in the 
house that my husband had secured for us, and they went 
home and had a comfortable dinner in their everyday white 
linens and were enjoying post-prandial talk on the cool 
verandah when Pedro Paterno came rushing in and, figura- 
tively, threw himself on his knees before them. He begged 
them to come with him to the banquete; the crowd had as- 
sembled; it was past nine o'clock; and he would be placed 
in a terrible situation if the gentlemen of the Commission 
did not reconsider their cruel decision. The gentlemen of 
the Commission asked how about the carefully censored 
speeches. Paterno vowed that no speeches at all should be 
delivered, that no word of any kind should be said, but that 
they must show themselves to the people, if only for a little 
while. All right. They quickly got into their hot evening 
clothes and went down to the banquet hall. They sat 
through a couple of silent, weary hours, took a few sips of 
wine, smiled a few smiles, shook a few hands, and then went 
home. That was all there was to it. But Pedro was dis- 
credited in both camps. His purpose had been to have the 
speeches made before the Commissioners, claim all the credit 
with his own people for getting the Commissioners there and 
then to deny to the Commissioners all responsibility for the 
occasion. 

The forms of military government were being strictly 
observed ; there was a nine o'clock curfew and nobody was 
allowed on the street after that hour without a pass. Mr. 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Taf t wrote of several trying experiences when he went out in 
the evening and forgot his pass and, starting home about 
half past ten, was held up by one sentry after another who 
demanded an explanation at the point of a gun. 

Mr. Bryan was running for President at this time and 
he was making a good deal of political capital out of the 
Philippine situation. He had promised to call a special 
session of Congress, if he were elected, to consider means 
for settling the Filipinos in immediate self-government, 
and he had a large following of mistakenly altruistic anti- 
imperialists supporting him. Mr. Taft was inclined to 
think that the whole anti-American demonstration, which 
was to culminate in the Amnesty Fiesta banquet, was 
planned by a Mr. Pratt, an American politician then visit- 
ing Manila, who wanted the "grandly patriotic" speeches 
to publish in American newspapers. They probably would 
have been perfect material for the anti-imperialists to grow 
sentimental over. 

In the meantime Mr. Bryan's promises and the possi- 
bility of his being placed in a position to redeem them, were 
retarding pacification. All that was needed to discourage 
the last of the insurrectos was Mr. McKinley's election, 
and the Presidential campaign of 1900 was probably not 
watched anywhere with more breathless interest than it 
was in the Philippine Islands. 

Such were the lessons in letters that I got from my hus- 
band, and my imagination was fired. He had great pro- 
jects in hand. The Commission proposed to establish 
municipal governments wherever conditions made it pos- 
sible and among the first things they undertook was the 
framing of a municipal code upon which to base such gov- 
ernments. They sent this to General MacArthur for his 
comments, but his comments consisted in a rather pointed 
intimation that military rule was still in force and that 
he thought they were several years ahead of possibilities, 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

but that they might go on and amuse themselves since their 
municipal code would not deter him in any action he found 
it necessary to take at any point where it was in operation. 
All this was couched in most excellent diplomatic language, 
of course, but it amounted to just that. An equally dip- 
lomatic reply seems to have brought the General to a reali- 
sation that the powers of the Commission were well de- 
fined, that their object was peaceful pacification wher- 
ever it was possible and that they would probably be sup- 
ported by Washington in any reasonable measures they might 
take to that end. 

They had many plans already; a big general school sys- 
tem for the organisation of which they had engaged a 
superintendent from Massachusetts; good roads to open up 
the country for commerce; harbour improvements; health 
measures; a reliable judiciary; a mountain resort where 
American soldiers and civilians might recuperate from tropic 
disease, thereby saving many lives to say nothing of mil- 
lions of dollars to the government in troop transportation 
charges; and they were already attacking the vexed friar 
question that had caused all the trouble in the first place. 

The letters made me anxious to finish my visit in Japan 
and get down to Manila where so much of vital and en- 
grossing interest was going on. My husband wrote rather 
discouragingly about the house he had taken, but he was 
having some improvements made and, though I did not 
expect to find comfort, I was sure I should manage to get 
along. I had purchased in Japan a number of bright and 
artistic objects in the way of house decorations and I 
thought that, with these, I should be able to make almost 
any place look inviting. 

The Boxer rebellion was troubling us more than any- 
thing else at the moment. We wanted very much to go to 
Shanghai, but were told that it would be absolutely unsafe 
for us to go anywhere in China except to Hongkong 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

I didn't know much about the East at that time and was 
ready to believe anything that was told me. However, 
I remembered that there were thousands of foreign resi- 
dents in Shanghai who were going on about their daily 
affairs much as if there were no such thing as a Boxer. So 
we, too, decided to go on our usual tranquil way and we 
set sail for Manila, via Shanghai and Hongkong, on the 
Japanese steamer, Kasuga Maru, on the tenth day of August. 



90 



CHAPTER V 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MANILA 

The China Sea has an evil reputation. On its shores one 
hears much about the typhoon season and the changing mon- 
soons, and bad sailors would, no doubt, like to have their 
sailing dates determined by the Weather Bureau; but this 
is not always possible. 

The Kasuga Maru, on which we made the voyage from 
Yokohama to Manila, lay in Hongkong Harbour while 
one of the great mid-August storms tore up from the south 
and set skippers and seamen agog with fears of dreadful 
conditions we would have to meet on the trip across to 
Manila. In the China Sea there are cross-currents which 
make for bad going at the best of times, and when they 
are piled up by a typhoon into great, warring waves the 
result is likely to be extraordinary. 

My husband cabled me to take a larger vessel, a United 
States army transport which left Hongkong about the same 
time we did, but I was comfortably located with my fam- 
ily on the little Kasuga Maru; the transfer of baggage was 
a troublesome task; and I figured that as long as the Kasuga 
Maru had been afloat in south seas for a good many years, 
she might be trusted to keep afloat for a few days longer. 

We caught the calm between two storms. The sea had 
been beaten down by torrential rains; and while great, 
smooth waves rose under us and sent us rolling in a sick- 
ening zigzag all the way across, there was in them no threat 
of destruction, and I really began to feel that the China 
Sea had been maligned. 

A feeling of intense curiosity got me out of my state- 
room bright and early on the morning of our arrival in 
Manila. 

To the northward lay a stretch of unbroken, mountain- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

cms shoreline; while we were headed for a narrow channel 
guarded by rock islands against which the surf broke in 
clouds of spray. 

"Corregidor," said the skipper, pointing to a high, green 
hill behind the rocks. Corregidor, — it was the first time I 
had ever heard the name which since has become synonym- 
ous, in so many minds, with Gibraltar. On the other side of 
the entrance to Manila Bay stood Meriveles, a beautiful 
mountain, sloping gently back from the sea and up into 
soft, white clouds. But Manila, — where was Manila 4 ? 
Cavite, — where was Cavite"? And where did the Spanish 
ships lie, when Dewey sailed in past Corregidor not knowing 
what he would find'? Questions, these, which everybody 
asked in those days. Manila was twenty miles ahead at 
the far end of the Bay, while Cavite, across on the south 
shore, in the nearer distance, lay flat and almost invisible 
under low-spreading trees. 

Flat; that is the word which occurs to everybody who 
sails for the first time into Manila Bay. The city is built 
on the low-lands; low, as I afterward learned, to the point 
of being below sea-level in certain places, and subject to 
sudden floods in the big typhoons. But far behind the flats 
are towering ranges of blue and purple hills, with here and 
there a softly rounded mountain standing, seemingly, alone. 

The hot sun beat down on the glassy surface of the Bay 
and sent back a blinding glare which brought an ache into 
eyes and nerves, but we were all too interested to seek shel- 
ter in the darkened cabin. 

While our ship was still miles from shore we could see 
long lines of low, red roofs and the white gleam of many 
domes and spires; and off to the right we had pointed out 
to us the eloquent wrecks of some of the Spanish fleet whose 
masts and battered hulks rose high out of the shallow water 
in which they were sunk. 

But for ourselves, for me, for Mrs. Wright, for Maria 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and the children, the most important thing in sight was a 
little fleet of harbour launches which came hurrying down 
the Bay to meet us. I saw my husband and General 
Wright standing in the bow of one of these long before 
they could pick us out in the crowd of passengers lining the 
rails of the Kasuga Maru. 

Then came the happy welcomings which make absences 
worth while; excited children; everybody talking at once; 
explanations begun and never finished; interruptions by 
customs officials — American soldiers in those days; com- 
ments on the heat and the bright white light, and laughing 
assurances that it wasn't hot at all and that the climate was 
perfect; transferring baggage to the launch; glimpsing, oc- 
casionally, strange scenes and strange peoples; asking and 
answering a thousand questions; busy, bustling, delightfully 
confusing hours of landing in the farthest orient. 

Our husbands turned themselves into willing "Baede- 
kers" and instructed us on the way. We steamed up in 
our little launch to the mouth of the Pasig River, wide and 
deep and swift, and covered with what looked to me like 
millions of small, green cabbages. 

"Carabao lettuce; the river's full of it," explained Mr. 
Taft, but I was much too occupied just then to stop and ask 
what "carabao lettuce" might be. 

We came up past a bristling fort at the corner of a great, 
grey, many-bastioned and mediaeval wall which stretched 
as far as I could see down the bay shore on one side and up 
the river on the other. 

"The Old Walled City," said General Wright, and I 
knew at once that I should love the old Walled City. 

"The oldest parts of the walls were built in the sev- 
enteenth century," continued our animated guide-book, "and 
the fort on the corner is Santiago. The big dome is the 
Cathedral and all the red tile roofs are convents and mon- 
asteries. The twentieth century hasn't reached here yet. 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

To all intents and purposes the Walled City is still in the 
Middle Ages." The truth is that only part of the walls are 
really very old — some parts have been built within seventy 
years. 

The river was full of strange craft; long, high-prowed, 
cumbersome looking boats, with rounded deck-houses roofed 
with straw matting and painted in every conceivable colour 
and pattern, which, we were told, were cascoes — cargo 
boats which ply the length of the Pasig and bring down the 
cocoanuts and sugar-cane and other products from the mid- 
dle provinces. The only visible propelling power on these 
cascoes — and the only power they have — are natives, 
naked to the waist, armed with long bamboo poles upon 
which, having fixed them firmly in the mud at the bottom 
of the river, they push steadily as they walk the length 
of the narrow running board along the outer edge of the 
deck. I should say they might make a mile in about two 
hours. 

Then there were the curious little bancas; narrow canoes, 
hewn out of single logs and kept on an even keel, usually, 
by graceful outriggers of bamboo. 

Across the river from the Walled City is the Custom 
House, and there, in a few moments, we drew up at a 
slippery, low, stone landing and climbed ashore. My feet, 
at last, were on Philippine soil. 

If I had, for the time being, forgotten that a war was 
going on I was immediately reminded of it. The Custom 
House was in the hands of the Military Government and it 
was surrounded by khaki-clad guards who all stood stiffly 
at attention as my husband and Generel Wright passed. 
All our necessary luggage had been released and put into 
the hands of orderlies to be delivered, so we were free to 
start at once for home. 

My husband had written me that the Philippine horses 
and the Philippine cockroaches were just about the same 

94 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

size, but I was hardly prepared for the diminutive turnout 
to which he proudly escorted me. Two little brown ponies, 
no higher than my shoulder, and with very shaggy manes 
and foretops, were hitched to a Victoria which had been 
built to fit them. When I stepped in and sat down, with 
Charlie on my lap, I felt twice my natural size and it 
seemed impossible to me that there was still ample room for 
Mr. Taft. 

On the box were two stolid little men, dignified by the 
titles of coachman and footman. They each wore white 
linen trousers and thin shirts which hung outside, making 
them look as if they had forgotten a most important act in 
the process of dressing. Their bare feet were thrust into 
heelless red carpet-slippers, while on their heads were wide, 
flopping, shapeless straw hats which they did not trouble to 
take off at our approach. 

The streets were full of such conveyances as ours, and 
others of varieties even more astonishing. Maria, with 
Robert and Helen, followed in a quilez — a miniature, one- 
horse omnibus affair into which the passengers climbed from 
the rear. Then there were calesas, caromatas, carretelas 
and carabao carts. 

The carabao carts interested me particularly, and there 
seemed to be more of them than of anything else. The 
cart itself was nothing, — just a few planks nailed together 
and balanced upon a pair of heavy, broad, wooden wheels, 
— but the beast attached to it was really extraordinary. 
The first carabao I saw had horns at least six feet across. 
Indeed, they all have very long horns, and how they keep 
from obstructing traffic in the narrow streets I never did 
understand. They do obstruct traffic, as matter of fact, 
but not with their horns; only with their slow motions. 
Nobody can possibly know just what the word slow signi- 
fies until he has seen a carabao move. Great, grey, thick- 
skinned, hairless beast; his hide is always caked with mud, 

95 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and he chews and walks at exactly the same pace while the 
half-naked, sleepy driver on the cart behind him gives an 
occasional jerk on the thin rope attached to the ring in his 
nose. 

It was sometime before I came to know calesas, caromatas 
and carretelas apart, though their only likeness lies in the 
fact that each has two wheels and to each is attached one 
busy little bit of a horse. The calesa and caromata are 
the better class vehicles, while the carretela is a plebeian pub- 
lic carryall in which there always seems to be "room for one 
more." I saw dozens of these packed with Filipinos; the 
driver — always and inevitably smoking — sitting close up 
behind his horse and lashing it continually while it strug- 
gled sturdily along and looked every minute as if it would 
be lifted off its feet by the overbalancing weight behind 
it. It was something of a shock to see many women, in 
carretelas and on the street, smoking huge black cigars; 
while I noticed, immediately, that the men, as a rule, smoke 
only cigarettes. 

I didn't look for speed from our little brown creatures, 
but I was yet to become acquainted with the Philippine 
pony. We started off over the rough cobblestones at a 
pace that was truly terrifying, and everybody else seemed 
to be going at about the same rate. I expected a collision 
every moment. Wheels passed wheels without an inch to 
spare, and without an instant's slackening of speed. My 
heart was in my mouth until we got through the maze of 
narrow streets in the wholesale district near the Custom 
House and came out into a wide plaza which my husband 
informed me was the end of the Escolta, the principal busi- 
ness street of the city. I was very glad we didn't have to 
drive through that; it was just about wide enough for 
two carriages to pass, but it had a street-car track right 
down the middle, and it was thronged. On the track was 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

a jingling little horse-car which seemed to get very much 
tangled up with the rest of the traffic. 

I got an impression of a great variety of colour in which 
red and yellow seemed to predominate. The soldiers were 
in khaki, the officers and civilians were in immaculate 
white linen, while the Filipino men and women of the or- 
dinary class looked as if they had made a heavy draft on 
the world's supply of red and yellow muslin, to say nothing 
of many calicoes of extravagant hues and patterns. 

We hurried on around the corner and came again to the 
banks of the river and the Bridge of Spain. Mr. Taft 
wanted me to know all about everything right away, so he 
kept on busily explaining things to me, but using so many 
unfamiliar words that I got only a hazy impression after all. 

But here was the Bridge of Spain, originally built in six- 
teen hundred and something, the oldest monument to Span- 
ish enterprise in the Islands. And across on the other side 
we came abreast of the inner wall of the city and whirled 
along awhile beside a wide, stagnant moat. From the inner 
side I got a better idea of what the Walled City was like, 
and I promised myself an early inspection of its mysteries. 
I wanted to walk across the old drawbridges and through the 
beautiful gateways which looked so ancient and were so 
suggestive of piratical and warlike history. 

"Those are the Botanical Gardens," said Mr. Taft — 
"the man from Cook's" — making a general sort of gesture 
toward the other side of the street. What I saw was a 
small gravelled park with some avenues of fine palms, some 
other kinds of trees, and a few clumps of shrubbery. We 
were driving under the low-hanging branches of some mag- 
nificent old acacias, but everything looked neglected and 
run down, and there didn't seem to be a bit of grass any- 
where; just scorching sand and clay. It was really a relief 
to rest one's eyes on the awful green scum on the surface 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of the moat. Manila in those days was not the beautiful, 
park-like, well-kept city that it has since become. There 
were soldiers everywhere, and it seemed to me we were being 
constantly saluted. 

"And now we come to the far-famed Luneta," said Mr. 
Taft, quite proudly. 

"Where'?" I asked. I had heard much of the Luneta 
and expected it to be a beautiful spot. 

"Why, here. You're on it now," he replied. 

An oval drive, with a bandstand inside at either end, — 
not unlike a half-mile race track, — in an open space on the 
bay shore; glaringly open. Not a tree; not a sprig of any- 
thing except a few patches of unhappy looking grass. 
There were a few dusty benches around the bandstands, 
nothing else; — and all burning in the white glare of the 
noonday sun. 

"Why far-famed?' I asked. 

Then he explained in a way which made me understand 
that the Luneta is not what it is, but rather what it stands 
for in the life of the community. He said that in the cool 
of the evening there were bands in the bandstands and that 
everybody in the world came and drove around and around 
the oval, exchanging greetings and gossip, while the chil- 
dren with their nurses played in the sand on the narrow 
beach. It didn't sound exciting to me, but I was afterward 
to learn that the Luneta is a unique and very delightful in- 
stitution. 

We tore on' at a terrific rate and came, at last, into a nar- 
row residence street where the rapid clatter of our ponies' 
feet awoke echoes from closely set houses which looked as 
if all their inhabitants were asleep. And they were, of 
course, it being the siesta hour. 

The houses were nearly all built in the Spanish style with 
high stone basements — covered with mouldy whitewash — 
and frame superstructures overhanging the street, and 

98 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

screened from the heat and glare with finely woven, green 
bamboo curtains. Here and there the "nipa shack" of the 
low class native had elbowed its way into this fashionable 
neighbourhood, and through open spaces I caught glimpses 
of wide stretches of thatch roofs in the near distance, where 
hundreds of these inflammable huts were huddled together 
in "native quarters." 

When the end of the street came in sight I began to won- 
der. It seemed to me we had driven many miles. 

"Well, where do we live*?" I asked. "Have you taken a 
house in the country 1 ?" 

"Not quite," said Mr. Taft, "but nearly." 
It was the last house in the street, surrounded by a very 
formidable looking, high stone wall. The first thing I 
knew we had whirled through a gateway and were driving 
past a row of soldiers who stood at attention, with their 
guns held stiffly in front of them. I knew our house had 
to be guarded, but it was something of a shock for a mo- 
ment, just the same, to see the guardhouse and the trim 
soldiers with their business-like equipment. 

If I had expected anything very fine or beautiful in the 
way of a tropical garden, I was disappointed. I don't 
know whether I did or not. The wonder to me now is how 
Americans ever did succeed in getting parks and gardens 
made. It only means that the Filipino has learned, or is 
learning how to work. He always was willing to work, a 
certain amount, but he didn't know how. My husband's 
description of how he got a bit of grading done is typical. 
The first conclusion he reached in Manila was that the 
people knew nothing about the value of time, and it must 
have been a strain on his temperate-zone nervous system 
to watch a squad of men at work in his garden. 

They deposited the material — as usual — as far as they 
could from the spot where it was to be used; then, one 
after another, barelegged, bare bodied, incessantly smok- 

99 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ing, they would take up small shovels full of earth, carry 
them all the way across the garden, resting once or twice on 
the way, dump the material somewhere in the vicinity of the 
place where it belonged, then drag slowly back and repeat 
the operation. This was the sort of thing which made 
Americans, in the early days, dance with impatience; the 
sort of thing which made Mr. Bryan's campaign talk about 
"cheap" Filipino labour invading the United States seem 
to us so utterly ridiculous. We knew that Filipino labour 
was the most expensive labour in the world; since it took 
ten men to do one American's work. 

My husband had written me about the difficulty he had 
had in securing a suitable house, and had also explained 
that he was having a number of repairs and changes made 
which, he hoped, would put the place in good order by the 
time I arrived. The garden was large, but it boasted 
neither lawns nor flowers of any kind. A few patches of 
grass struggling with the hard white gravel and clay, and 
looking pretty hopeless, nothing else. Around a curving 
drive we swung up under a porte-cochere, over which hung 
a magnificent rubber tree, and, stepping from the under- 
sized Victoria onto the finest of white marble steps, I found 
myself at home. 

Our house was really the best that my husband could 
secure. When he first looked at it he was certain it 
wouldn't do at all. It belonged to Chief Justice Arellano, 
and the army officer who went with him to look for 
quarters assured him that it was the only thing in town 
that he could possibly live in; but he didn't believe it. 
It had been occupied by army officers and had been greatly 
abused. Its furniture was broken and piled in heaps; 
its walls were ragged; and its floors were scarred and 
dirty. 

"I'll just have a look at some others," said Mr. Taft. 

And he did. He went all over town, and he says that 

100 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

every house he looked at added some new, desirable aspect to 
the Arellano house, until, finally, it became in his eyes a sort 
of palace which needed only a touch here and there to make 
it quite perfect. 

It backed directly on the Bay, and among the first things 
he did was to have a sea-wall built which he thought added 
safety to the top-heavy structure, but which, during the 
typhoon season, really cost him more than it was worth. 
Every time a big wind came and roughed up the Bay a little, 
a part of his wall went out. His first complaint to me was 
that he had been "holding that wall down" all summer, and 
that part of it was always sure to try to get away every 
time he found himself particularly occupied with harassing 
governmental difficulties. 

He had had sod laid down between the house and the 
sea-wall, and had watched it for awhile with a faith which 
should have been rewarded, but the salt spray came dashing 
over it and he had to have it carefully taken up and moved 
around to the sheltered side of the house. Good sod was 
scarce in Manila in those days. 

My husband was certainly glad to see me, and I don't 
doubt that General Wright was just as glad to see his 
wife. The two of them had been "keeping house" together 
for three months under conditions wholly new to them, and 
I gathered that they found a bachelor existence rather com- 
plicated and, in certain details, annoying. In some ways, 
after the manner of men, they had permitted the house to 
run itself and I did not find it easy to break up the system 
which had been inaugurated. 

The house was not perfect, by any means, but it was big 
and roomy and had what a woman knows as "great possi- 
bilities"; possibilities which I found had to be slowly de- 
veloped with the assistance of a somewhat taciturn and not 
altogether willing menage. 

Coming in from the grand marble steps one passed up a 

101 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

short, but spacious hardwood stairway into a wide central 
hall which opened out on a tile floored verandah, overlook- 
ing the Bay and running the entire width of the house. 
This verandah was enclosed by sliding windows divided 
into panes about six inches square, not any two of which 
were the same colour. All the other windows in the house 
were made of beautiful, translucent pearl-shell in four inch 
sections — more like screens than windows — which let in the 
light and kept out the glare, but on the verandah the archi- 
tect had tried to surpass himself, with the result that royal 
purple, orange, pink, bright blue and green glass disclosed 
to one a multi-coloured and distracting stretch of other- 
wise beautiful bay. The hard white light was a thousand 
times more bearable than such a kaleidoscope, and after I 
got home those windows were seldom closed. 

On either side of the broad central hall were two large 
rooms; one the dining-room, the others commodious bed- 
rooms; while over the porte-cochere was a small drawing- 
room. Downstairs were the baths and three large rooms 
and a duplicate of the upstairs verandah. This part of the 
house, which was dry and well-built, I forthwith turned over 
to the children. 

Some of the furniture was very fine; big hardwood tables 
and old Spanish pieces made from the beautiful woods of 
the Islands, but everything was greatly in need of the 
polisher's brush and chamois. The floors, alternating, 
broad, hand hewn planks of nara and ipil 9 were as fine as 
any I ever saw, though they, too, needed long and pains- 
taking attention. In the bedrooms were high canopied and 
mosquito-netted beds with cane bottoms, exactly like cane- 
bottomed chairs, and without mattresses. Everything else 
was wicker. 

The thing which caught my attention first, however, were 
the fans. My husband had written me, with great pride 
and satisfaction, that he had put in electric fans, and that 

102 






RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

they had "saved his life." I had some sentimental at- 
tachment for them on this account — until I saw them. But 
when I saw them I felt at once that everything else, to be 
in keeping, ought surely to be swathed in fly-specked pink 
gauze. The electric fans were of the variety associated in 
one's mind with ice-cream "parlours"; two broad blades 
attached to the ceiling in the middle of the room. They 
had been installed in both the dining-room and sala — or 
sitting-room — and it was not possible in either room to see 
anything else. These fans were the subject of endless con- 
tention between Mr. Taft and me, but I gave in and left 
them to continue their mission of saving his life. He says 
yet that I often acknowledged on hot nights that he was 
right about them, but I never did. 

My husband had secured his house staff in Hongkong, 
through the kind offices of Admiral Dewey's servant, Ah 
Man, as I have already written, but being new to the ways 
of the Oriental, he was destined very quickly to gather some 
unique experience. There were four of them: the cook, 
the number one boy, the number two boy and the laundry- 
man. The laundryman was Mr. Taft's own inspiration. 
The Filipino laundryman, he had heard, takes the linen 
of his master's household down to some stream, preferably 
the shallows of the Pasig, and hammers it into ribbons on 
smooth rocks which he uses for washboard purposes. Then 
he spreads the articles on the grass to dry, and the conse- 
quences were found, not infrequently, to be a bad outbreak 
on the master's skin of what is known as "adobe itch," a 
troublesome disease. So Mr. Taft had engaged a Chinese 
laundryman and had sent back to San Francisco for tubs 
and washboards and wringers and all the necessary para- 
phernalia, and had installed an up-to-date laundry in his 
own house, where the orders were to boil the clothes and 
hang them on a line. It worked perfectly, though it did 
take the Chinaman from the wilds of Shanghai some 

103 



, RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

time, to learn the uses of* the various modern implements. 

In Manila the marketing is usually done by the cook, but 
in our household this duty was delegated to the number one 
boy. One day the cook and the number two boy came to 
Mr. Taft with the announcement that they could not re- 
main in the house with number one boy; that number one 
boy was a thief; that he smoked opium all the time he was 
supposed to be marketing; and that he was a bad Chinaman 
generally. Mr. Taft had always given number one boy 
the money with which to pay the other boys' salaries and 
the cash market charges, so he said to the cook: 

"Has number one always paid your wages ?" 

"Yes," said the cook, with an eloquent shrug of his shoul- 
ders, "just my wages and nothing more." 

This meant, of course, that number one boy was commit- 
ting the unforgivable sin of not dividing the "squeeze." 

There is no use going into what "squeeze" means in the 
Orient. It may come partly out of the master's pocket 
and partly out of the pockets of the tradesmen; nobody 
knows. But the housekeeper soon learns that she gains 
nothing by trying to circumvent the system in doing the 
marketing herself. The "squeeze" works, no matter who 
does the buying, and it soon comes to be recognised as a 
legitimate part of household expenses. The only thing 
that one can do is to make a complaint when it becomes 
too heavy. 

It seems to have been very heavy in my husband's es- 
tablishment, and investigation proved to him that it was 
necessary to let number one go, so when I arrived there were 
just the two upstairs servants, the cook and number two, 
who had been promoted to the proud position of number 
one. 

I went immediately to work to order my household as I 
always had been used to doing, and there's where I began 
to get my experience of the Oriental character. My cook 

104 





A TYPICAL PHILIPPINE RIVER SCENIC AND SOME FILIPINO 
LAUNDRY WORK 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

was a wrinkled old Chinaman who looked as if he had con- 
cealed behind his beady little eyes a full knowledge of all 
the mysteries of the East, to say nothing of its vague phi- 
losophies and opium visions. He called me "Missy" and 
was most polite, but in all the essentials he was a graven 
image. He was an unusually good cook, though he did 
exactly as he pleased, and seemed to look upon my feeble 
efforts at the direction of affairs with a tolerant sort of in- 
difference. He would listen to my instructions most re- 
spectfully, carefully repeat after me the nice menus I de- 
vised, say, "yes, Missy," then return to his kitchen and cook 
whatever suited his fancy. 

It took me sometime to get used to this, but I came to 
value him highly, especially when I learned that he had, 
finely developed, one glorious characteristic of his kind. 
He could make something out of nothing. If Mr. Taft 
sent word at six o'clock, or even as late as seven, that he 
had invited four or five of his associates to dinner to con- 
tinue a discussion begun earlier in the day, or for some other 
reason, I had only to tell Ah Sing that there would be seven 
or eight instead of three at dinner, and a perfect dinner 
would be served. Where he got his supplies with which to 
meet these sudden demands I never knew. I learned to ac- 
cept the gifts of the gods without comment, which is the only 
thing to do in the East. 

Ah Sing was particularly proud of his sweets. He loved 
to make puddings and pies with lavish decorations upon 
them, though none of the family cared much for such deli- 
cacies. One evening, shortly after my arrival, I was giving 
quite a formal dinner party; I had, as usual, given the 
cook a menu well thought out and, I believed, wholly ap- 
propriate to the occasion and the climate. For a sweet 
I had ordered an ice with some small cakes, and I was 
pleasantly surprised to see them duly served. But just 
as the party was about to rise from the table and go out 

105 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

on the verandah for coffee, in came Mr. Number One Boy 
with a ponderous, steaming bread-pudding, all covered with 
coloured ornaments, which he smilingly displayed for the 
benefit of the astonished party. It had to be served, of 
course, and I felt that my explanations regarding Ah Sing's 
eccentricities didn't make much of an impression. 

Over none of the servants did I exercise the control I 
thought to be necessary, but this was due to the fact that 
for three months they had been obeying the master; the 
master had paid them their wages, and to the master they 
looked for all orders. It took me sometime to discover this, 
but when I did I began to handle household accounts with- 
out assistance. 

It was about the end of the typhoon season and the pre- 
dictions were that there would be no more heavy storms. 
But it began to rain and blow one day with rather more 
force than I had ever seen before, and I was told that we 
were in the midst of a typhoon. "Oh, well," I thought, 
"if this is all I don't see why there is so much talk about 
it." It was just a very hard and very persistent storm. 
When I began to think it was about time for it to have 
blown itself out I was awakened one night by what seemed 
to me to be the bombardment of heavy artillery. My bed 
was shaking under me, the house was swaying, and the noise 
was terrifying. I jumped up with an instant idea of in- 
surrectos, and a feeling that I must meet the situation on 
my feet; then I realised, at once, that it was the typhoon. 
It was as if all the winds that had blown for two days had 
gathered themselves together and were hurling themselves 
in one blast upon us. I reached for the electric switch, but 
there were no lights; I turned the button time and again; 
nothing happened. I fumbled for matches all over my 
room and could find none. My nerves were just at the cry- 
ing out point when my door was thrown open and in rushed 
Maria, holding aloft a glimmering candle. 

ic6 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

She was shaking with fright. 

"Nellie," she exclaimed, "I just can't stand it any longer ! 
Do let's find everything there is to light and call Will and 
sit out in the sala. Heaven only knows what's going to 
happen!" 

We searched around and found some more candles; then 
I went to call my husband. He was sleeping as soundly as 
if nothing at all were happening. I shook him and called 
him and shook him again. I thought he never would wake 
up, but finally he did, and just then I heard the crash of a 
tree blowing down in the garden, while the floor seemed to 
heave under my feet. 

"What's the matter*?" asked my sleepy husband. 

"Will, there's an awful storm. Please come out in the 
sala and sit with Maria and me." 

"All right," he said, and slowly got himself into an all- 
enveloping dressing gown. 

We huddled ourselves in chairs in the big hallway and sat 
listening. Rain always comes with the wind in typhoons 
and the dash of water against the windows and the sides of 
the house was deafening. But the noise was suddenly 
punctuated by a gentle snore. Mr. Taft had settled him- 
self back in his chair and gone quietly to sleep. Maria's 
nerves were on edge; without a word she jumped up and 
shook her tired-out brother-in-law most vigorously, crying 
above the roar of the storm : 

"Will Taft, what do you think we waked you up for? 
You can't go back to sleep. We want you to stay awake 
and comfort us !" 

"All right, Maria," said he, with the utmost good nature; 
whereupon he sat up, changed his position to one more com- 
fortable, and proceeded to lapse again into peaceful slum- 
ber. 

The next morning Maria and I drove down through the 
town to see the effects of the typhoon. Three trees were 

107 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

uprooted in our own garden, and across the street a house 
was flattened out. Groups of Filipinos stood here and 
there talking and gesticulating in their usual manner, but 
nobody seemed unduly excited. We saw many houses un- 
roofed, and once in a while we met a native with a piece 
of nipa or tin roofing balanced on his head, quietly carry- 
ing it back where it belonged. 

We drove down through the Escolta and into the crowded 
Tondo district beyond, and there we suddenly found our- 
selves hub-deep in a flood. The below-the-sea-level quar- 
ters were under several feet of water, and we got a sudden 
revelation as to why all the nipa houses are built on such 
high and unsightly stilts. Crowds of Filipinos were pad- 
dling through the flood, most of them carrying some part 
of a house, or other belonging, and nearly all of them play- 
ing and splashing like pleased children. Bancas — long 
canoes from the river — were plying from house to house as 
if it were an everyday affair and conditions were quite nor- 
mal. 

I had heard a great deal about the severity of typhoons, 
but as I had passed a whole season in the East and had 
crossed the China Sea during the typhoon season without 
encountering one, I began rather to scoff at the general fear 
of them. But I never did after that; when anybody said 
typhoon I knew exactly what it meant. The water sub- 
sided rapidly and in a day or two Manila showed few signs 
of the fury which had passed, but for several days the Com- 
mission continued to receive reports pf the damage done 
and the lives lost throughout the surrounding country. It 
was the worst and the last storm of that year. 

When we arrived in Manila we found the social atmos- 
phere somewhat peculiar. Members of our own party, who 
had crossed the Pacific on the Haticock, welcomed us at 
once with dinners and teas and other kinds of parties; also 
a number of Army ladies called without delay, and our cir- 

108 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

cle broadened rapidly. But General MacArthur, who was 
the Military Governor and lived at Malacanan Palace, did 
not entertain anybody except a select military circle. He 
sent an aide with cards, of course, and he accepted our in- 
vitations to dinner, but that was all. Not that we minded, 
except that it made it rather awkward and added something 
to the "feeling" that all was not well between the Army 
and the new civil government. 

The Commission had been for three months busily en- 
gaged in investigating conditions, as directed by the Presi- 
dent, before they assumed any authority, and then they 
acted with no haste. We were impatiently awaiting news 
from America with regard to the Presidential election. It 
was thought to be futile to take any definite steps toward 
the establishment of local governments and the inaugura- 
tion of far-reaching reforms until the status of Ameri- 
can control should be settled. Mr. Bryan had promised 
political independence, and if Mr. Bryan were elected all 
the Commission's plans would go for naught. 

The provincial and municipal codes were completed; 
certain important questions between the Church and the 
people were being considered, and many open sessions were 
held for discussion, with the purpose of advising the people 
that they would be listened to by a civil government. In 
the meantime the insurrectos were keeping things lively in 
a guerilla warfare with small squads of greatly harassed 
and very much disgusted American soldiers. There were 
occasional rumours about uprisings in Manila — when the 
guard at our gate would be doubled — but Mr. Taft assured 
us that Manila was as safe as New York or Chicago and 
we really had few fears. 

General MacArthur continued to resent the coming of the 
Commission and to consider himself personally humiliated 
by their being appointed to divide his power. He was 
still in command of about seventy thousand men and had 

109 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

the general executive control of a large civil force, but this, 
apparently, was not enough. The tone he adopted in his 
correspondence with the Commission kept them in a con- 
stant state of controlled anger. They were very careful 
in return to observe every courtesy and to manifest an ear- 
nest desire for harmony and co-operation. They were 
tremendously interested in their problems and wanted much 
to succeed, but their efforts at conciliation did little good. 
The General objected to almost every suggestion put for- 
ward by them and did not hesitate to tell them in plain 
words that he did not welcome advice from them concerning 
military or any other matters. It was really a very difficult 
situation. 

The Commission thought General MacArthur took an 
entirely erroneous view of the attitude of the Philippine 
people in general, and that in everything he did he moved 
with an exasperating slowness. They wanted a large na- 
tive constabulary which they knew could successfully be 
organised and relied upon to render great assistance in the 
pacification of the Islands. He did not agree with them 
and held the matter up for many months. He was not 
in sympathy with any move they made, and his greatest 
cross was that he had no power to veto their legislation. 
He saw military dangers in all manner of things without 
being able to state just what they were, and he was always 
calling for more troops, while the Commission was enter- 
taining hopes that it would not be a great length of time 
before a large part of the troops already there could be re- 
called. I find my husband writing at this time: 

"General MacArthur, knowing that we differ from him 
as to the condition of things in the Islands, makes it a point 
to send me an account of each disaster as if it vindicated 
his view. This is not the spirit of a man who is likely to 
succeed in giving energy to a campaign which will bring 
about successful results, but the matters will solve them- 

110 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

selves in spite of his slowness of movement and lack of en- 
thusiasm. . . . 

"The minute the policy with respect to these Islands is 
settled by Bryan's defeat and the election of McKinley, the 
leniency which has been almost too great towards ladrones 
and these murdering generals will have to be changed. 
They must be given an opportunity to come in and if they 
do not come in in a short time, they ought to be deported 
from the country and sent to Guam. This will have an 
effect so healthy that a short time will see accomplished 
what we desire. There will be a great awakening for some 
of these men who have come to rely on the supineness of 
the Americans, and who do not understand that we can be 
severe when we choose. . . . 

"It was General Otis who inaugurated the plan of laugh- 
ing at the insurrection, of capturing men and letting them 
go, and the result is that they have laughed at us, but with 
a little tightening of the reins their laugh will cease. . . . 

"They dread deportation more than anything else and 
I have written to Secretary Root and asked him to have a 
prison constructed at Guam to which we may send those 
whom we think worthy of a less punishment than hanging. 
The insurrection must be suppressed for the benefit of the 
United States and, still more, for the benefit of the Fili- 
pino people. The lenient methods, having been tried for 
two years, must be changed to those more severe. . . . 

"The insurrection, such as it is now, is nothing more 
than a conspiracy against the sovereignty of the United 
States sustained by murder and assassination of Filipinos 
by Filipinos. . . . 

"MacArthur is drawing the reins a little tighter, though 
not as tight as we think he ought to draw them, and he 
has now imprisoned about fifteen hundred insurgents. 
There have been a great many arrests made in Manila, 
which has been the head centre of the insurrection in the 

in 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

way of raising money. I should think there have been fifty 
or sixty insurgent officers arrested in the city. . . . 

"I sent a telegram to the Secretary of War on Sunday 
night which was signed by Buencamino and other prominent 
Filipinos, about a dozen of them, in which they spoke out 
with emphasis about the continuation of the insurrection. 
They propose to organise what they call a counter-revolu- 
tion ; that is, they mean they will organise a military move- 
ment among the Filipinos against Filipinos. They are get- 
ting very tired and weary of this murder and assassination 
policy without which the insurrection could not last a 
week. . . . 

"You could hardly believe the closeness with which the 
Presidential matters are being watched by the Filipinos, and 
how they follow the speeches made against the Republican 
cause. General Smith, away down on the island of Negros, 
told me he had found speeches by Hoar and Bryan, and 
other anti-expansionists and anti-imperialists, in the most 
remote mountains of his district. . . . 

"Every one is waiting and it is not impossible that should 
Bryan be elected there might be some riotous demonstra- 
tion among the natives. The Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court, Senor Arellano, has made arrangements, should 
Bryan be elected, to leave the islands three days after the 
announcement. He is the ablest Filipino in the islands, by 
far the best lawyer and a man of the highest probity. He 
says that much as he is interested in the success and pros- 
perity of his fellow-citizens, he knows that they are utterly 
incapable of self-government and should the guiding hand 
of the United States be withdrawn, chaos, conscription and 
corruption would follow inevitably. . . ." 

I have taken these excerpts at random from my husband's 
letters to his brother during the months of September and 
October, 1900, and they serve to show the situation which 
existed and will illustrate the fact that we were living in 

112 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

interesting times. But they deal only with the insurrec- 
tion, while the main body of his correspondence shows that 
the Commissioners were engaged upon legislative matters of 
the gravest import which would be rendered entirely super- 
fluous should Mr. Bryan be elected and his announced poli- 
cies be carried into effect. In that event they proposed 
immediately to turn matters back to the military govern- 
ment and withdraw, leaving Mr. Bryan to face the prob- 
lems which they knew he would soon discover had to be 
dealt with from the standpoint of constructive statesman- 
ship. 

In the meantime the peace movement was rapidly gain- 
ing adherents among the people in spite of the still active 
insurrectos, or rather, because of them and their methods; 
while everybody seemed to welcome the change from a 
strictly military to a partially civil government. 

The popularity of the Commission, as offering a change 
from the strictness of military rule, was becoming every 
day more marked. Juan de Juan, a Spaniard, and editor 
of the lively organ El Progreso, which was always in oppo- 
sition to anything American, said that on the first of Sep- 
tember when the Commission began to exercise its author- 
ity, he intended to devote the whole front page of his paper 
to just three words: "Gracias a Dios," — Thanks to God! 
Juan de Juan was a good deal of a Bohemian and really 
cared little what happened so long as he got a sensation out 
of it. September first came and went, and I don't remem- 
ber whether he made good this extravagant threat or not. 
I presume he didn't for, though I had been in Manila less 
than a week, I surely would have remembered. 

After the Commission had been in power for just a month, 
and while the excited interest in events in the United States 
was at its height, Juan de Juan broke out in a characteristic 
Spanish editorial, a translation of which has been preserved. 
We had entertained Juan de Juan at dinner, and he evi- 

113 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

dently was impressed. We made it a rule from the begin- 
ning that neither politics nor race should influence our hos- 
pitality in any way, and we came thus to have a very wide 
and diverse acquaintance. The editorial in El Progreso 
gives such a curious picture of attitude and conditions in 
general, as well as of my husband, my family and my home, 
that I think I must quote it, — at least in part. It is headed 
simply : 

SENOR TAFT 

The most uncompromising jingoes; the rabid partisans of mili- 
tarism, as well as the men of democratic sentiments who consider 
the occupation of the Philippines as an odious Caesarism, respect 
and venerate the President of the Civil Commission, whose sur- 
name serves as the caption of these lines. Uprightness and bon- 
hommie always demand recognition. 

Before the Hancock, bearing this statesman, had anchored in 
Manila Bay, the echo of his reputation and the radiations of the 
brilliant aureole which his success in the judiciary of his country 
had imposed upon him — and we underline the word imposed be- 
cause the characteristic trait of Mr. Taft is his modesty — had 
reached the Philippines. The Filipinos awaited him with the same 
pleasing curiosity with which a child opens a toy with a concealed 
surprise, and the foreigners as the incarnation of those American 
patriarchal, democratic ideas with which Castelar portrayed to his 
followers the country of Lincoln. 

Behind that spacious brow of the thinker, between his liberal 
tendencies and the incomparable exactions of the enormous bur- 
dens which his country undertook in Paris, fierce struggles are 
waging. The President of the American Civil Commission has 
broad shoulders, but the weight of a people whom patriotism en- 
dows with the strength of a colossus is very great. 

We must concede to all the leading authorities whom America 
has sent to the Philippines the trait of being industrious. We 
know that General Otis worked more than twelve hours a day; 
MacArthur, that Daban of the American Army through the ra- 
pidity of his advancement, follows the same course as his prede- 
cessor, and Mr. Taft leaves his house every morning at eight and, 
as unostentatiously as a clerk, proceeds to become a part of his chair 
in the Ayuntamiento. There his first occupation is glancing over 

114 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

the American press, and what is of interest in the Spanish papers. 

Then the show begins. Paterno, Macabulos, Montenegro, 
some envoy from Cebu, for example, who come to sound him, as the 
slang saying goes, arrive. Mr. Taft has the same respectful smile 
for all, the same courtesy, and addresses them all in the same terms, 
which his athletic Secretary, Mr. Fergusson, repeats in Spanish 
with the gravity of a Sphinx and the fidelity of a phonograph. 
When the matter warrants it, Mr. Pepperman, the chief stenog- 
rapher of the Commission, enters the office and proceeds to take 
notes of the interview. 

In this way the Americans are forming a luminous record which, 
united to what were our archives, which they preserve through the 
terms of the Treaty of Paris, will guide them well in the ad- 
ministration of the Philippines. 

Later Mr. Taft becomes engulfed in the examination of the bills 
which the other members of the Commission present for him to 
study; he discusses their text with his colleagues, listens to all 
their observations, and judging them by a standard most favorable 
to the interests of the Philippines, the most liberal within the in- 
structions from Washington — it is proper to say that Mr. Taft is 
the most democratic element of the Commission — he expresses his 
opinion, generous, calm and noble, which assuredly, in view of 
his personal prestige, must carry great weight in the framing of 
the bills, whose execution is entrusted to the Military governor. 

To dissipate the gloomy smoke of the conflagration, to still the 
groans of those who fall in this immense expoliarium into which 
fatality has converted the Philippine fields, is the mission which 
the men composing the American Commission desire to bring to a 
successful issue. To make peace. For this they came, and if 
fortune does not reserve for them the happy chance of accomplish- 
ing so beautiful an ideal, they will retire, and the factor they 
represent in the problem to be solved, with its distinguishing traits 
of civil moderation, will be substituted as a system that has failed, 
by another, wherein the martial power will prevail over political 
wisdom. 

As General MacArthur undoubtedly spends many hours over 
maps of the Philippines, Mr. Taft also often rests his gaze on a 
map covering one of the walls of his office, tracing, in mente, a 
railroad which, crossing the island, shall drown with the cheery 
whistle of the locomotive the moans of the victims of war. Thus 
would Mr. Taft like to pacify the Philippines. 

• ••••••••• 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

It is now one o'clock p. m. and Mr. Taft is at home, where this 
personage stands out more boldly before us, since the trials through 
which the country is passing do not permit us yet to judge him 
politically. 

The President of the Commission, in his private life, has many 
points of similarity with Count de Caspe, that stainless gentleman 
the Filipinos still recall with veneration. Excepting the brilli- 
ancy of those splendid entertainments with which he endeavoured 
to blot out all racial differences by mingling in fraternal embrace 
Filipinos and Spaniards at the Malacanan villa, there ordinarily 
reigned in the governor's mansion the placid silence of the home 
of a well-to-do retired merchant. The Countess, who on Thurs- 
days did the honours of her salon with exquisite tact, was during 
the other days of the week a housekeeper who did not disdain to 
go to a grocery store to make purchases, or to look over the laun- 
dry list. 

The same thing happens in the elegant chalet at Malate where 
Mr. Taft lives. This is a quiet and peaceful home, a temple 
erected to the affections, under whose roof Mr. Taft rests some 
hours after the efforts which his political work demands. 

His table reflects his modest character. Four courses, two kinds 
of fruit, a dessert and sauterne compose the menu of the luncheon 
where Mr. Taft is always accompanied by some guest, either Fili- 
pino, American or Spanish. During the meal politics are ban- 
ished ; if the guest is a Filipino who speaks French Mrs. Taft 
interrogates him on the customs of the archipelago ; if he is Span- 
ish, as to the toilettes worn in Manila by the ladies at the most 
brilliant receptions held here ; as to the favourite musical composer 
of the Hispano-Filipino society ; and this conversation increases in 
attraction when Miss Herron, sister-in-law of Mr. Taft and the 
incarnation of the modern woman's education, takes part therein. 
Miss Herron speaks French correctly, has travelled much, and 
journeyed through Spain like an intelligent tourist. The archi- 
tectural lace-work of the Alhambra charmed her, and she went into 
ecstasies over the orange blossoms growing along the banks of the 
Guadalquivir. With what Miss Herron was not in harmony, and 
she berates them like an unsubsidised journalist, were the Spanish 
railroads. Miss Herron is right. 

The children, Robert, about eleven years old ; Helen, a girl of 
nine, and Charles, a baby of three, who is the king of the house- 
hold : — the McKinley, as it were, of this patriarchal republic — do 
not come to the table ; they eat with the governess. 

116 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

After the meal, in the fine gallery overlooking the sea, sipping 
the coffee, Mr. Taft talks of the education of his children, of the 
difficulties met in the Philippines in the solution of so interesting 
a problem; and his wife converses of the charitable work she ex- 
pects to undertake when she shall have assumed a more permanent 
place in the Archipelago, which Magellan discovered for Spain, 
and which, through a horrible fatality, is no longer ours. Politics 
are also eschewed on the gallery. 

Needless to say this extraordinary editorial afforded us 
all boundless amusement; we began to caution Mr. Taft 
frequently about the careful preservation of his "aureole" 
and Maria and I decided that we would have to walk warily 
indeed, if we were destined to be so minutely reported. 



117 



CHAPTER VI 

A STRANGE ENVIRONMENT 

In the Far East one meets certain expressions the significance 
of which may be described as adamantine. Each represents 
a racial attitude against which it is useless to contend. In 
Japan it is the equivalent of it cannot be helped; a verbal 
shrug of the shoulders with which the Japanese tosses off all 
minor and many grave annoyances. "Masqui" down the 
China coast, has the same import, but with the added mean- 
ing of "what difference does it make." In the Philippines 
the phrase which must be met and which cannot be overcome 
by any system of reform is "el costumbre del pais''' — the cus- 
tom of the country. 

If it is el costumbre del pais it has to be done and there is 
nothing more to be said about it. The manaha habit — 
putting everything off until to-morrow — is, perhaps, to 
Americans, the most annoying of all the costumbres del pais 
in the Philippines, but it yields to pressure much more 
readily than do many others, among which is the custom of 
accumulating parientes; that is, giving shelter on a master's 
premises to every kind and degree of relative who has no 
-other place to live. This is, I suppose, a survival of an old 
patriarchal arrangement whereby everybody with the re- 
motest or vaguest claim upon a master of a household gath- 
ered upon that master's doorstep, so to speak, and camped 
there for life. 

In my first encounter with this peculiarity of my environ- 
ment I thought there was a large party going on in my 
cochero's quarters; and an indiscriminate sort of party it 
seemed to be. There were old men and old women, young 
men and young women, many small children and a few babes 
in arms. We had only Chinese servants in the house, but 
the stables were in charge of Filipinos and, as I soon discov- 

118 




(LEFT TO RIGHT) GENERAL WRIGHT, MR. TAFT AND JUDGE IDE AS 
PHILIPPINE COMMISSIONERS 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ered, the "party" was made up entirely of our stablemen's 
parientes. 

I had a pair of ponies and a Victoria; Mr. Taft had his 
two little brown horses and a Victoria; besides which there 
was an extra horse to be used in case of accident to one of 
the others, as well as a pony and calesa for the children. 
This rather formidable array was necessary because we found 
it impossible to take a horse out more than twice a day, and 
usually not more than once, on account of the sun. My 
ponies were taken out only in the early morning or the late 
evening, and those of Mr. Taft had all they could do to take 
him to the office and bring him home twice a day. Dis- 
tances were long and there were no street-cars which ran 
where anybody wanted to go. 

This number of conveyances made a good many stable- 
men necessary and all of them, with their families, lived in 
quarters attached to the stables. These families consisted 
of fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins 
near and far removed, wives, children, grandchildren, and a 
few intimate and needy friends with their family ramifica- 
tions. Besides our three cocheros and the stable boys, there 
was a gardener with his parientes, so it is no wonder that on 
my first inspection of the lower premises I should have 
thought that some sort of festivity was in progress. I might 
have lived in Manila twenty years without being able to 
straighten out the relationships in this servant colony; it 
was not possible to learn who had and who had not a right 
to live on the place; and my protest was met with the simple 
statement that it was el costumbre del pais, so I, perforce, 
accepted the situation. 

Filipino servants never live in the master's residence ; they 
never want to; they want the freedom of a house of their 
own, and these houses are, as a rule, built on the outer edges 
of the garden, or compound. I believe Americans now are 
learning to meet the pariente habit by having room for just 

119 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

as many people as they need, and no more. But those who 
live in the old places, with their ample quarters, still gather 
the clans and are permitted to enjoy a most expansive and 
patriarchal sensation. 

My horses, when I first saw them, were a source of the 
greatest pride. A beautifully matched pair of coal-black, 
stylishly-paced and glossy little stallions, hardly larger than 
Shetland ponies, they looked as if they had been washed in 
some sort of shrinking soap and had come out in perfect 
condition except that they were several sizes smaller than 
they ought to have been. These Philippine ponies are 
doubtless descendants of the Arabian horses brought over by 
the Spaniards and have been reduced to their present size 
by the change of climate and the difference in food and 
environment, but they still have the fine lines and the gen- 
eral characteristics of their progenitors. 

Mr. Taft secured mine from Batangas, where all the best 
ponies come from, through the kindness of Mr. Benito 
Legarda, the staunchest of Americanistas. Batangas was a 
most unquiet province, the last, in fact, to become pacified, 
and Mr. Legarda had to pay an insurrecto for bringing the 
horses through the insurgent lines and delivering them at 
Calamba, near Manila. Although he did not know their 
exact origin when he bought them, Mr. Taft said that if the 
facts became known he would be accused, in certain quarters, 
of giving indirect aid to the revolutionists; but he wanted 
the ponies so he did not return them. 

When they were hitched to the shining little Victoria 
which had been built for them, they were as pretty as a pic- 
ture and, as I did not propose to have such a turn-out ruined 
by a couple of Filipinos on the box in untidy camisas hang- 
ing outside of as untidy white trousers, I had made for my 
cochero and boy, or coachman and footman, a livery of white 
and green in which they took such inordinate pride that they 
seemed to grow in stature and dignity. 

120 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Maria and I felt a sense of the utmost satisfaction the 
first time we stepped into this carriage for a drive down to 
the Luneta where we were sure to see everybody we knew 
and hundreds of people besides ; but our vanity was destined 
to be brought to a sudden termination. 

As we were driving along with much satisfaction, a bit 
of paper floated down alongside the blinkers of the little 
ebony steed on the right and he made one wild leap into the 
air. His companion gave him an angry nip, and then the 
fight was on. Maria and I jumped out, which was not diffi- 
cult in a low-built Victoria, and no sooner had we done so 
than we saw the complete wreck of all our grandeur. With 
all the leaping and plunging and biting and kicking, in the 
vicinity of a handy lamp-post, the smash-up was fairly com- 
plete. Neither of the ponies was hurt, except by the lash of 
the whip, and I must say the little wretches looked rather 
funny; like very pretty and very bad children, sorry for 
what they had done. But their characters were established 
and they proceeded after that to live up to them. We 
never could have any confidence in them and my coachman 
was the only person who could do anything with them. 
He was a most unsatisfactory man in many ways and used 
often to call for us at dinner parties in a state of gay in- 
ebriety, but we didn't dare discharge him because everybody 
else in the stables stood in awe of the blacks while he 
seemed greatly to enjoy his constant and spectacular 
struggles with them. 

The Filipinos are a most temperate people; there is no such 
thing as drunkenness among them; but coachmen seem to 
be an exception in that they allow themselves a sufficient 
stimulation of the fiery vino to make them drive with cour- 
age and dash, sometimes minus all care and discretion. 
The drivers of public vehicles seem to love their little horses 
in a way; they are inordinately proud of a fast paced or 
stylish-looking pony; yet they are, as a rule, quite harsh to 

121 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

them. They overload them and overdrive them, and under 
all conditions they lash them continuously. 

No Filipino cochero likes to have another cocliero pass 
him, and the result is constant, indiscriminate racing, on 
any kind of street, under any circumstances, — and never 
mind the horse. 

My children were driving with their governess to the 
Luneta one evening, when two caromatas came tearing 
down behind them, each driver hurling imprecations at 
the other and paying no attention to what was ahead of 
him. The result was a violent collision. The two caro- 
matas went plunging on, the cocheros not stopping to see 
what damage they might have done — which was very 
characteristic — and the children narrowly escaped a serious 
accident. Charlie was hurled out and fell under the chil- 
dren's c ales a and Robert and Helen both declare they felt 
a sickening jolt as a wheel passed over him. The baby, 
too, vowed that the calesa "went wight over me, wight 
dere," indicating a vital spot; but upon the closest examina- 
tion we could discover nothing more serious than a few 
bruises. However, it made us very much afraid to trust 
the children out alone. 

The gardener had two little boys, Jose and Capito, who 
were a few years older than Charlie, but about his size, and 
he took a tremendous fancy to them. They were clad, 
simply, in thin gauze — or jusi — shirts which came down a 
little below their waists, and I think Charlie envied them 
this informal attire. He used to order them around in a 
strange mixture of Spanish, Tagalog and English which 
made me wonder at my wholly American child; but it was 
an effective combination since he seemed to have them com- 
pletely under his thumb and, as he revelled in his sense of 
power, he never tired of playing with them. 

Maria and I soon adopted the universal habit of driving 
down to the Escolta in the early morning to do such shop- 

122 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ping as was necessary. We found a variety of interesting 
shops, but with very little in them to meet the ordinary de- 
mands of an American woman. There were delightful 
Indian bazaars and Chinese tiendas where all manner of 
gaudy fabrics and strange oriental articles were on sale, 
while the Spanish shops upon which everybody had to de- 
pend in those days, and which had such grandly European 
names as Paris-Manila and La Puerta del Sol, catered 
largely to the Filipino taste for bright colours. 

The Escolta at that time was full of saloons, established 
by the inevitable followers of a large army, and the street 
being very narrow and the old, rickety, wooden buildings 
being very wide open, the "beery" odour which pervaded 
the atmosphere at all hours was really dreadful. Mr. Taft 
decided that as long as this was the only street in town 
where women could go shopping, the saloons would have 
to be removed. There was opposition on the Commission 
to the bill which provided for their banishment, and it was 
fought from the outside with great vigour and bitterness, 
but a majority were in favour of it, so it passed, and the 
saloons had to move. There has not been a saloon on the 
Escolta from that day to this and, indeed, they have ever 
since been under such satisfactory regulation that there is 
little evidence left of their existence in the city. 

I am afraid it is going to be very difficult to convey an 
adequate picture of Manila society during the first years of 
American occupation. There had .been, in the old days, a 
really fine Spanish and rich mestizo society, but all, or 
nearly all, of the Spaniards had left the Islands, and the 
mestizos had not yet decided just which way to "lean," or 
just how to meet the American control of the situation. I 
may say here that most of the educated, high-class Filipinos 
are mestizo; that is, of mixed blood. They may be Span- 
ish mestizo or Chinese mestizo, but they have in them a 
strong strain of foreign blood. Besides the Spanish- and 

123 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Chinese-Filipinos, there are a number of British mestizos 
who are very interesting people. Mr. Legarda, Chief Jus- 
tice Arellano, Dr. Pardo de Tavera and Mr. Quezon, the 
Filipino delegate to the United States Congress, are Span- 
ish mestizos, while Mr. Araneta, the Secretary of Finance 
and Justice, as well as the Speaker of the Philippine As- 
sembly and many able lawyers and successful business men 
are of Chinese descent. The mestizos control practically 
all the wealth of the Philippines, and their education, in- 
telligence and social standing are unquestioned. It is the 
only country in the world that I know about — certainly the 
only country in the Orient — where the man or woman of 
mixed blood seems to be regarded as superior to the pure 
blooded native. 

Dating back also to the Spanish days was quite a numer- 
ous foreign society consisting of a few consuls, some profes- 
sional men, the managers of banks and large British and 
European mercantile firms, and their families. The 
leaders of the British colony were Mr. and Mrs. Jones — 
Mr. Jones being the manager of the Manila branch of the 
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Mrs. 
Jones, a very beautiful and charming woman, gave some 
very elaborate parties during that first winter. Bank 
House, the residence maintained by the bank for its man- 
ager in Manila, is a beautiful place in Uli-Uli, a district 
on the picturesque banks of the upper Pasig, and it is finely 
adapted for balls and large receptions. Then there were 
several German families who also entertained quite lav- 
ishly, and I remember, especially, one Austrian exile; in- 
deed, I shall never be able to forget him because my hus- 
band took such joy in pronouncing his name. He was 
Baron von Bosch. 

This was the "set" which entertained the Commission 
most cordially during our first season in Manila, while the 
Army officers, following the lead of their Commanding 

124 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

General, held themselves somewhat aloof*. I kept up a con- 
stant round of parties of different kinds in my house, and 
gave a dinner at least once a week at which were gathered 
companies of a most interestingly cosmopolitan character. 
And we did not fail to observe all the desirable forms. 
Both Filipinos and Europeans expect a certain amount of 
ceremony from the representatives of government and are 
not at all impressed by "democratic simplicity" ; so believ- 
ing in the adage about Rome and the Romans, we did what 
we could. Beside the spic and span guard at the outer 
gate of the illuminated garden, we always, on dinner party 
nights, stationed coachmen, or other stable boys disguised 
as liveried footmen, on either side of the entrance, to re- 
ceive guests and conduct them to the dressing-rooms, and 
up the stairs to the reception room. 

Our house was nicely adapted for a dinner of twelve and 
I usually tried to confine myself to that number. We al- 
ways had an orchestra, orchestras being very plentiful in 
Manila where nearly every native plays some sort of in- 
strument, and the music added greatly to the festive air of 
things, which was enhanced, too, by a certain oriental at- 
mosphere, with many Japanese lanterns and a profusion of 
potted plants and great, hanging, natural ferneries and 
orchids which were brought in from the forests by the Fili- 
pinos and sold on the streets. 

My husband is supposed to be the author of the phrase: 
"our little brown brothers" — and perhaps he is. It did not 
meet the approval of the army, and the soldiers used to have 
a song which they sang with great gusto and frequency and 
which ended with the conciliating sentiment: "He may be 
a brother of William H. Taft, but he ain't no friend of 
mine!" 

We insisted upon complete racial equality for the Fili- 
pinos, and from the beginning there were a great many of 
them among our callers and guests. Their manners are 

125 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

models of real courtesy, and, while their customs are not 
always like ours, wherever they are able they manifest a 
great willingness to be conforme, — to adapt themselves, — 
and their hospitality is unbounded. 

I shall never forget my first call from a Filipino family. 
They arrived shortly after six in the evening: el senor, la 
senora and four senoritas. We went through a solemn 
and ceremonious handshaking all around. I received them 
first, then passed them on to my husband who, in turn, 
passed them on with a genial introduction to my sister 
Maria. We had been sitting on the verandah, and when a 
semi-circle of chairs had been arranged, the six of them sat 
down; el senor noisily cleared his throat a couple of times 
while the ladies calmly folded their little hands in their 
laps and assumed an air of great repose. It was as if they 
had no intention of taking any part whatever in the con- 
versation. 

El senor explained in Spanish that they were our near 
neighbours and that they had called merely to pay their 
respects. Mr. Taft had been studying Spanish diligently 
ever since he left the United States, but he is not conspicu- 
ously gifted as a linguist, and he had not yet waked up — 
as he so often expressed a wish that he might — to find him- 
self a true Castilian. However, his ready laugh and the 
cordiality of his manners have always had a peculiar charm 
for the Filipinos, and he was able on this occasion, as he 
was on many future ones, to carry off the situation very 
well. We all nodded and smiled and said, "Si Senor" and 
"Si Senora," to long and no telling what kind of speeches 
from our guests; then Maria and I complimented the ladies 
on their beautifully embroidered camisas, which started 
things off properly. They praised everything in sight, and 
what we didn't get through the little Spanish we knew, we 
got from gesture and facial expression. They got up and 
wandered all around, feeling of my Japanese tapestries and 

126 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

embroideries, breathing long "ahs!" of admiration over my 
gold screens and pictures and curios, and acting generally 
like callers who were being very well entertained. Then 
the children came in and they broke out afresh in voluble 
praise of them. I assumed the proper deprecatory mien in 
response to their laudation of my children, and altogether I 
felt that we were acquitting ourselves rather well in this 
first inter-racial social experience. 

But at the end of half an hour the strain was getting a 
little severe and I was wondering what to do next, when 
our six callers arose and said they must be going. I 
breathed an inward sigh of relief and was making ready to 
escort them to the top of the stairs, when my husband cor- 
dially exclaimed: 

"Why, no! Porque? Tenemos bast ante tiempo. Why 
hurry*?" And — they — all — sat — down! 

I regretted then even the little Spanish Mr. Taft had 
learned, though, of course, he didn't expect them to heed 
his polite protest. He knew nothing at all about Filipino 
manners; he didn't know they expected to receive some 
sign from him when it was time to go and that they would 
consider it discourteous to go while he was urging them to 
stay. He kept up, without much assistance, a brave if 
laboured conversation, and the minutes slowly passed. 
Our dinner hour approached and I darted warning glances 
at him, for I had a horrible fear that he just might ask 
them to remain and dine. But at the end of another hour 
a strained expression began to spread itself over even his 
face, and there was not a word of protest from him when, 
at a quarter past eight, our little brown neighbours once 
more indicated an intention of going home. We enter- 
tained Filipino callers nearly every day after that, but never 
again did we urge them to reconsider their sometimes tardy 
decision to depart. 

With regard to Filipino manners and customs; I am re- 

127 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

minded that we were nonplussed, though greatly amused 
by the costumbrt del -pais which decreed that some return 
be made by a Filipino for any and all favours bestowed 
upon him. We grew accustomed to this before we left 
the Islands, and came to expect a few offerings of sorts 
almost any day in the week, but in the beginning it was 
usually most embarrassing. 

One time, soon after our arrival, a very loyal American,' 
ista was shot down in the street, during the peaceful dis- 
charge of his duty, by an insurrecto. His widow, with her 
children, came into Manila in a state of utter destitution, 
to secure some recompense from the government for her 
husband's services, and while her case was pending Mr. 
Taft, in great pity for her, sent her money enough to live 
on. The next day the whole family, from the wide-eyed 
boy to the babe carried astride the mother's hip, came to 
call on their benefactor, bringing with them as a gift a 
basket containing a few eggs, some strange Philippine 
fruits and a lot of sea-shells. Mr. Taft was deeply touched, 
and with the brusqueness of a man who is touched, he told 
her he had given her the money to buy food for herself and 
her children and not for him, and he refused her offering. 
I know, by the light of a fuller knowledge of the character 
of the lowly Filipino, that she went away feeling very 
much cast down. 

But in connection with such gifts there were always more 
laughs than sighs. We invited to luncheon one day a 
dashing Filipino named Tomaso del Rosario. Senor 
Rosario, a man of wealth and prominence who had a fine 
Spanish education and was well dressed in the high-col- 
lared, patent-leathered and immaculate-linened Spanish 
style, was quite self-confident and enjoyed himself very 
much. He seemed attracted to Maria and she, being lin- 
guistic, was able to talk to him in a mixture of many lan- 
guages. The next day she received from Senor Rosario, 

128 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

not a floral offering, but a basket filled with nuts, a canned 
plum-pudding, some canned chocolates and preserved fruits. 
This attention did not seem so remarkable, however, when 
we learned, to our amusement, that he had sent exactly the 
same present to Alice Worcester, then five years old. 

Our life, on the whole, was intensely interesting in its 
unusual atmosphere and curious complications, but through- 
out everything we were made to feel the deep significance 
of our presence in the Islands; and the work of the Com- 
mission was first, last and always to us the subject of the 
greatest moment. Even in our daily round of social af- 
fairs we dealt with tremendous problems whose correct solu- 
tion meant the restoration of peace and prosperity to what 
then should have been, and what we knew could be made, 
a great country. That for which the American flag had 
always stood began to assume, for many of us, a broader and 
a finer meaning; and being so much a part of our flag's 
mission in a strange field a certain zest was added to our 
patriotism which we had never felt before. I believe, and 
I think all those who know the truth believe, that Ameri- 
canism, in its highest conception, has never been more finely 
demonstrated than in the work done by the United States 
in the Philippine Islands; work, the broad foundation for 
which the Commission was engaged in constructing during 
the period of which I write. 

So many were the problems to be met and dealt with that 
in the beginning the Commissioners were each given a set 
of subjects for investigation and study, their findings being 
submitted for debate and consideration in the general meet- 
ings. 

Taxation, civil service, provincial and municipal organi- 
sation, currency and finance, police, harbour improvements, 
roads and railways, customs, postal service, education, 
health, public lands, an honest judiciary and the revision 
of the code of laws; these were some of the vital problems, 

129 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

but underlying them all was the immediate necessity for 
the establishment of tranquillity and confidence through- 
out the archipelago. 

In order to make clear, in any degree, the Philippine 
situation as we found it, it is essential that, briefly, the 
position of the Catholic Church and its representatives, the 
Friars, be explained. For the first time in its history the 
American government found itself compelled to adjust a 
seemingly insurmountable difficulty between a church and 
its people. 

With us the Church is so completely separate from the 
State that it is difficult to imagine cases in which the policy 
of a church in the selection of its ministers, and the assign- 
ment of them to duty could be regarded as of political mo- 
ment, or as a proper subject of comment in the report of a 
public officer, but in the first reports of the Philippine Com- 
mission to Washington this subject had to be introduced 
with emphasis. 

The Spanish government of the Philippine Islands was 
a government by the Church through its monastic orders, 
nothing less. In the words of the Provincial of the Augus- 
tinians, the Friars were the "pedestal or foundation of the 
sovereignty of Spain" which being removed "the whole 
structure would topple over." The Philippine people, with 
the exception of the Mohammedan Moros and the non- 
Christian tribes, belonged, during the Spanish dominion, 
to the Roman Catholic Church, and the Church registry of 
1898 showed a total membership of 6,559,998. The 
parishes and missions, with few exceptions, were adminis- 
tered by Spanish Friars of the Dominican, Augustinian and 
Franciscan orders, and it was to the nature of this adminis- 
tration that Spain owed the insurrections of 1896 and 1898, 
the latter of which terminated only upon our assuming con- 
trol of the islands. 

In 1896 there were in the Philippines 1,124 monks of the 

130 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Augustinian, Dominican and Franciscan orders, which body- 
included a company of Recolletos, who are merely an off- 
shoot of the order of St. Augustine and differ from the 
Augustinians only in that they are unshod. In addition to 
these there were a few Jesuits, Capuchins, Benedictines and 
Paulists, but they engaged in mission and educational work 
only and did not share with the other orders the resentment 
and hatred of the people. Filipinos were not admitted to 
any of the orders, but they were made friar curates and 
served as parish priests in some of the smaller places. 

When a Spanish Friar curate was once settled in a parish 
he remained there for life, or until he was too old for serv- 
ice, and because of this fact he was able to establish and 
maintain an absolutism which is difficult to explain in a 
few words. He was simply everything in his parish. As 
a rule he was the only man of education who knew both 
Spanish and the native dialect of his district, and in many 
parishes he was the only Spanish representative of the gov- 
ernment. In the beginning, through his position as spirit- 
ual guide, he acted as intermediary in secular matters 
between his people and the rest of the world, and eventu- 
ally, by law, he came to discharge many civil functions and 
to supervise, correct or veto everything which was done, 
or was sought to be done in his pueblo. 

He was Inspector of Primary Schools, President of the 
Board of Health and the Board of Charities, President of 
the Board of Urban Taxation, Inspector of Taxation, 
President of the Board of Public Works, Member of the 
Provincial Council, Member of the Board for Partitioning 
Crown Lands, Censor of Municipal Budgets, and Censor of 
plays, comedies or dramas in the dialect of his parish, de- 
ciding whether or not these were against the public peace 
or morals. In a word, he was the government of his par- 
ish; and in addition to all things else, it was he who, 
once a year, went to the parish register, wrote on slips of 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

paper the names of all boys who had reached the age of 
twenty, and putting these into a receptacle, drew them out 
one by one and called every fifth man for military service. 
So hateful was this forced duty to the Filipino youths that 
many of them would run away into the mountains and hide, 
become outlaws in order to escape it. But the civil guard 
would go after them and when they were captured they 
would be put in jail and watched until they could be sent 
to their capital. 

The monastic orders had behind them a powerful church 
organisation the heads of which took an active and official 
part in the administration of government. The Archbishop 
and the Bishops formed part of what was known in Manila 
as the Board of Authorities; and they, with the Provincials 
of the orders, belonged to the Council of Administration, 
a body analogous to the Council of State in Spain or France, 
charged with advising the Governor General on matters 
of urgent moment, or in times of crises. The Friars, 
Priests and Bishops constituted a solid, permanent and well- 
organised political force which dominated all insular pol- 
icies, and the stay in the islands of the civil or military 
officer who attempted to pursue a course at variance with 
that deemed wise by the orders, was invariably shortened 
by monastic influence. Each order had in Madrid a repre- 
sentative through whom the Court of Spain easily could be 
reached without the intervention of any authority. 

Upon the morals of the Friars I can only touch. That 
some of them brought up families of sons and daughters 
is beyond question. Such were guilty of violating their vows 
of celibacy rather than of debauchery. On this point the 
moral standard of the Filipino people was not rigid, and 
women were rather proud than otherwise of the parentage of 
their Friar-fathered children who were often brighter, better 
looking and more successful than the average Filipino. The 
truth is that this charge was urged with more eagerness and 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

emphasis after the Filipinos began to appeal to the American 
government than during Spanish times, and when the stand- 
ard of morality in the Filipino priesthood of the period 
was considered, it seemed as if the accusers thought the 
charge would have more weight with those they sought to 
influence than it did with themselves. 

The three great orders of St. Francis, St. Augustine and 
St. Dominic owned, in different parts of the Islands, more 
than 400,000 acres of the best agricultural land, and this 
they rented out in small parcels to the people. Their in- 
come from these immense holdings was not what a prudent 
and energetic landlord would have realised, but they paid 
no taxes, while the Filipino was taxed in every possible 
way. 

In the province of Cavite alone the Friar estates 
amounted to 131,747 acres, and it was in the province of 
Cavite, which is just across the bay from Manila, that the 
two insurrections against Spain, or rather against Friar 
domination, began. 

When we arrived in Manila all but 472 of the 1,124 
Friars had either been killed or had fled the country. In 
each of the uprisings many of them lost their lives, and 
many more were taken prisoners. Indeed, the last of them 
were not released until the rapid advance of the American 
troops in our own encounter with the insurrectos made it 
necessary for the insurgent army to abandon all unneces- 
sary impedimenta. All the Friars remaining in the Is- 
lands had taken refuge in Manila. 

Strange to say, this resentment against the Friars inter- 
fered in no way with the Filipino's love for the Church. 
With a strong and real emotion he loves the religion which 
has been given him; and the elaborate and beautiful forms 
of the Roman Catholic Church are calculated, especially, 
to make a powerful appeal to his mind. It is really an as- 
tonishing commentary on the character of these people that 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

they should be able to rise against the men who administered 
the sacraments which they so deeply loved and revered. 
Or, is it more of a commentary on the conditions which 
caused the uprisings'? 

Without exception the Spanish Friars had been driven 
from their parishes, and the most burning of all the burn- 
ing political questions which the Commission met and had 
to settle, was whether or not they should be permitted to 
return. It was impossible to make the people understand 
that the government of the United States and the govern- 
ment of Spain were two different matters, and that if the 
Friars were returned to their parishes they would exercise 
no secular functions of any kind. The people had the pro- 
verbial dread of the "burnt child" and no amount or kind 
of reasoning could move them from the position they had 
taken, nor could any of them, from the highest to the low- 
est, talk calmly and rationally about the subject. The one 
point upon which the Filipinos were united was that the 
Friars should never be reinstated. 

Universal agitation, uneasiness, fear, hatred, a memory 
of wrongs too recently resented and resented at too great a 
cost; these were the factors which made necessary the stand 
which the Commission finally adopted. The question with 
the Friars became one, largely, of getting value for their 
property, their title to which was never seriously disputed, 
and it was decided that on condition of their leaving the 
Islands, the insular government would undertake the pur- 
chase of their vast estates. The intention was then to make 
some arrangement whereby the lands might be sold back 
to the people in homestead tracts, and on terms which the 
poorest man might be able, in time, to meet. 

It was to negotiate this transaction, involving the expen- 
diture of $7,000,000 that my husband was sent to Rome 
the following year as an emissary of the United States 
government to the Vatican. This was in the time of Pope 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Leo, and it made a most interesting experience which I shall 
detail in another chapter. 

The first thing, really, that the Commission undertook 
when they arrived in Manila, was the settlement of a defi- 
nite dispute between the Church and the People as to which 
had the right to administer the affairs of the Medical Col- 
lege of San Jose. Their manner of procedure in this case 
instituted in the Islands a new and never-before-thought-of 
system of evenly balanced justice, and made a tremendous 
sensation. 

The case was called: "T. H. Pardo de Tavera, and 
others, for themselves and other inhabitants of the Philip- 
pine Islands — against — The Rector of the University of 
Santo Tomas, a Dominican monk, and the Holy Roman 
Apostolic Catholic Church, represented by the Most Rever- 
end, the Archbishop of Manila, and the Most Reverend, the 
Archbishop of New Orleans, Apostolic Delegate." Its im- 
portance, under the conditions then existing, can hardly 
be exaggerated. 

San Jose was one of the oldest institutions in the Islands; 
it was founded, as a matter of fact, in 1601, by virtue of a 
legacy left by a Spanish Provincial Governor named Figu- 
eroa who provided that it should always be managed by 
the head of the Jesuits in the Islands. It was originally a 
college for the education of Spanish boys, but through va- 
rious vicissitudes, including the expulsion of the Jesuits in 
1766, it had changed from one thing to another until, 
finally, it had become a college of physicians and pharmacists 
and was made a department of the University of Santo 
Tomas, the Rector of which was a Dominican Friar. One 
of the Philips had granted to the college a Royal charter, 
and within the last hundred years the Crown had asserted 
its right of control. So when the American government 
took over all the public property in the Philippines, Gen- 
eral Otis closed San Jose, but he did not issue an order as 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

to its management. The Church was petitioning for a resti- 
tution of what it regarded as its rights in the property, and 
the Commission was called upon to settle the controversy.. 

They conducted their examinations in open meetings so 
that all might see the full and free workings of a wholly 
equitable system, and the Filipinos were enabled to behold, 
for the first time, the, to them, astonishing spectacle of high 
ecclesiastics presenting in open court the arguments upon 
which they based their claims. 

The first hearing Mr. Taft describes as "an historic 
scene." 

"There were the two Archbishops in their archiepiscopal 
cassocks," he writes, "with purple girdles and diamond 
crosses, accompanied by a Secretary of the Dominican order 
robed in white; while opposed was a Filipino lawyer, Don 
Felipe Calderon, who derived his education in the Univer- 
sity of Santo Tomas. Accompanying him were a lot of 
young Filipino students and others of the Medical Associa- 
tion interested in wresting San Jose from the University. 
The Archbishop of Manila made a speech in which he was 
unable to restrain the feeling of evident pain that he had in 
finding the rights of the Church challenged in this Catholic 
country. He made a very dignified appearance." 

And at the second hearing: 

"Both Archbishops were again present, and the same 
scene was re-enacted except that we had rather more of a 
formal hearing. We had them seated on opposite sides of 
a table, just as we do in court at home, and had seats for the 
spectators. 

"Senor Don Felipe Calderon, who represents the Philip- 
pine people, was given an opportunity to make the first 
speech. He had printed his argument and read it, having 
given us translated copies with which we followed him. 
His argument was a very strong one, lawyer-like and well- 
conceived, but he weakened it by some vicious remarks about 

136 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

the Dominican order. The Archbishop of Manila, once or 
twice, felt so much outraged at what he said that he at- 
tempted to rise, but Archbishop Chapelle prevented him from 
doing so. At the close of the argument Monsignor Chapelle 
asked for ten days in which to prepare an answer and we 
granted him two weeks. The scene was one I shall always 
carry with me as marking an interesting period in my Phil- 
ippine experience." 

The Commission did not settle the question. After care- 
ful consideration and many hearings, they left the property 
in the hands of the Dominicans, but appointed a Board of 
Trustees to prepare and present an appeal to the Supreme 
Court of the Islands, appropriating at the same time, five 
thousand dollars to pay the expenses of the litigation. 

Archbishop Chapelle did not like this decision and tele- 
graphed to Secretary Root asking him to withhold his 
approval. Then he asked the Commission to modify the 
law and give him an opportunity, in case the decision in the 
Supreme Court should go against the Church, to appeal to 
the Congress of the United States. This the Commission 
refused to do on good and sufficient grounds, whereupon 
the Archbishop cabled to the President, declaring that the 
decision as it stood would retard pacification. Although he 
had always been strongly opposed to the continuation of mil- 
itary government, we were much amused to learn that in his 
cable to the President he took occasion to remark, signifi- 
cantly, that "General MacArthur is doing splendidly." 

But if Archbishop Chapelle was displeased with the ac- 
tion of the Commission, the Filipino press was delighted, 
and the editorial encomiums heaped upon them can only 
be described as brilliant. The Diario de Manila, the next 
morning, was absolutely unable to express itself, and it 
concluded a more or less incoherently eulogistic editorial 
with the words: "The decision satisfies everybody; it 
raises a question which threatened to drag itself over the 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

hot sands we tread, cleanses it of all impurities, and makes 
it the beginning and the end of a most transcendental prin- 
ciple of sovereignty and law." The Filipino or Spanish 
editor is nothing if he is not hyperbolic. 

When we arrived in Manila it was a source of great worry 
to us that we could not send our children, eight and ten 
years old, to school. The Jesuits had a school for boys in 
the Walled City, and Mr. Taft considered for awhile the 
possibility of sending Robert there, where he might, at 
least, learn Spanish; but so strong was the feeling against 
the Friars that this would have been taken by the people 
as a certain indication that the President of the Commission 
was leaning toward the Church in his deliberations on the 
vital subject. As I have said, they could not look upon 
this question, in any of its bearings, in a reasonable light. 

We eventually settled Helen in a convent where she made 
an effort to learn Spanish, and Robert we turned over to 
Mrs. LeRoy, the wife of Mr. Worcester's Secretary, who 
was a graduate from the University of Michigan and a 
most excellent teacher. 

Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy went to the Philippines as bride 
and groom. They were classmates, graduated together, 
and this was their first big venture into the world. They 
were a valued part of our little pioneer circle, and it was 
with the greatest dismay that we learned, after about two 
years in the Islands, that Mr. LeRoy had developed tuber- 
culosis. He had either brought the germs with him from 
the United States or had contracted the disease there, 
where, indeed, it is most prevalent. He continued to act 
as Secretary for Mr. Worcester beyond the time when he 
should have gone to another climate to devote himself to 
a cure, but finally, when he realised that the sentence was 
upon him, he decided to leave the Islands, and my husband 
was able to secure for him, because of his splendid efficiency, 
a position in the Consular service under Mr. Hay, at Dur- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ango, Mexico. This post was chosen because it is in a dry, 
mountainous region where the ravages of tuberculosis are 
supposed to be checked. 

Mr. LeRoy was an exceedingly well-informed and stu- 
dious man. He was a natural linguist, spoke Spanish with 
ease, and soon was able to acquire enough Tagalog to en- 
able him to go among the people and get their point of view 
at first hand. He immediately became interested in writ- 
ing a history of the Islands and wanted much to go to Spain 
to examine Spanish-Philippine documents at Seville and 
other places, but he was never able to do so. 

In the days when death faced him in New Mexico, 
whither he had gone after leaving Durango, he wrote, as 
Grant wrote, on a book which he hoped might furnish some 
means to his wife after his death. He died before he was 
able to complete what Mr. Taft says is a very accurate, 
comprehensive and interesting history of the Archipelago 
from the beginning down to, and including, Dewey's vic- 
tory, the taking of Manila and the work of the first Com- 
mission. He had planned to give a full account of the 
work of the second Commission, with which he was so 
intimately connected, but his pen dropped before his pur- 
pose was fulfilled. His history has been only recently 
published. 

Mrs. LeRoy later went to Washington, and Mr. Taft 
appointed her to one of the few clerical positions not covered 
by the Civil Service law. This is in the Land Office where 
she signs the President's name to land patents. She is the 
only person in the government who has the right and power, 
given by special act of Congress, to sign the President's 
name to a document. 

Throughout the autumn of 1900 the insurrection dragged 
itself along; behind any bush the American soldiers were 
likely to find a lurking "patriot"; and the uncensored re- 
ports of the "brave stand" of the Filipinos were being sent 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

out daily by Democratic reporters, to help along the anti- 
expansionist cause, represented by Mr. Bryan, in the United 
States. 

The insurrectos were being assured by their incitants to 
violence that the eyes of the world were upon them. They 
were being told that they were winning undying renown 
throughout the civilised universe; and they believed it. 
They read with avidity all the anti-imperialistic newspapers 
which came out to the Islands and accepted as a true esti- 
mate of themselves the laudations therein contained. Be- 
sides, the promoters of the insurrection pretended to trans- 
late from other languages still more extravagant praises, 
and they certainly were enjoying a most exalted opinion of 
themselves. 

We understood that Aguinaldo was trying to concentrate 
for one spectacular move shortly before election, in order 
to add to the chances of a Democratic victory ; and there was 
some cause for alarm. The Filipinos are born politicians 
and many of them knew much more about the campaign 
between Bryan and McKinley than the Americans in the 
Islands knew. 

Apropos of this: Archbishop Chapelle told Mr. Taft 
that Aguinaldo had, through Archbishop Nozaleda, re- 
quested an interview with him. Monsignor Chapelle went 
to General MacArthur and asked that Aguinaldo be al- 
lowed to enter Manila. The General readily gave his con- 
sent, and even offered the revolutionary Dictator the hospi- 
tality of his own roof. Aguinaldo, in due military form, ac- 
knowledged this courtesy and fixed the time for his arrival in 
Manila. He clearly indicated that he was discouraged and 
had decided to solicit permission, through Archbishop 
Chapelle, to leave the Islands. But just then the news of 
Bryan's plan for calling an extra session of Congress to 
settle Philippine independence came out, so the insurgent 
general sent word that he had decided not to come. No 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

American knew just where he was, but he probably got 
the papers and telegrams just as soon as any of us. 

I remember the sixth of November as a very nervous day. 
We had received all manner of reports from home ; we were 
so far away that mail and newspapers were a month old 
when they reached us; and the cable reports had been con- 
tradictory in the extreme. We really were on our tiptoes 
with excitement. And the worst of it was that because of 
the thirteen hours' difference in time between Washington 
and Manila, we lived through the day knowing that the 
United States was asleep, and went to bed just about the 
time voters began to go to the polls. We kept getting all 
manner of doubtful telegrams throughout the next morn- 
ing — when it was night in the United States and the votes 
were being counted — but just at one o'clock, as we went to 
lunch, Mr. Taft received a despatch from General Corbin 
in accordance with his previous agreement. It read: 
"Taft Manila McKinley Corbin." It had been sent from 
the War Department in Washington at eleven o'clock the 
night of the election and had taken just forty-five minutes 
in transmission. This was record time for a cablegram 
then between Washington and Manila, despatches having 
to be sent by numerous relays. 



141 



CHAPTER VII 

"days of the empire" 

There was a trying period of unrest and uncertainty in our 
early experience in the Philippines, during which we lived 
in a state of suspense which can hardly be described ; a state 
of suspense which included among its various elements the 
excitement of an intermittent guerilla warfare and frequent 
threats of native uprisings in Manila. Established order 
and a fixed governmental policy, so necessary to the tran- 
quillity of the normal citizen, were non-existent, and one 
experienced a sense of complete detachment which made 
plans for even the immediate future seem entirely futile. 
To unpack all one's things; to establish a satisfactory home 
and give one's attention to its ornamentation; to supply 
one's self with the necessities of a long residence in the 
tropics; in other words, to settle down to the pursuit of a 
usual mode of existence; all these things had to be done, 
but, needless to say, they were not done with the enthusiasm 
incident to a feeling of permanence, nor did such enthusi- 
asm begin to manifest itself in the local atmosphere until 
after the re-election of Mr. McKinley in 1900 when it be- 
came certain that the American flag was in the islands to 
stay as long as its presence there should be deemed requisite 
to the peaceful development of the country and the fitting 
of the people for self government. 

There were those who saw long years ahead, — not all 
Americans, by any means, — and soon the American spirit 
began to make itself felt in business, in schemes of civic 
progress, in social life, in everything. We were there for 
a purpose which was at last defined, so we cheerfully con- 
fronted chaos and went to work. 

We were sorry to note that the election of Mr. McKinley 
and the consequent establishment of the American status 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

in the Philippines did not change the military attitude to- 
ward the manner of solving the governmental problems. 
The Commission was definitely pledged to the rapid adjust- 
ment of affairs on a civil and generally representative basis, 
but the military authorities still maintained that military 
rule would continue to be a necessity for an indefinite period. 

However, the Civil Commission went on its way map- 
ping out a programme of peaceful pacification and carrying 
it into effect as promptly as possible, while its activities 
engaged universal attention and formed the chief topic 
of conversation wherever two or more people were met to- 
gether. Society became frivolous enough, but nobody ever 
got very far away from the questions of absorbing interest 
with which many of us were so closely associated. 

Our first Christmas surely would have saddened us in 
our peculiar exile had we been able to realise its approach, 
but this was not possible. The "Christmas spirit" does not 
thrive in a temperature of eighty-odd degrees, and I think 
I would have taken little interest in preparations for the 
holidays had not my children been there to remind me that 
Christmas is Christmas no matter what the thermometer 
may say about it. It was still the most important day in 
the year for them and it was almost pathetic to see them 
trying to defeat the climate through sheer force of their 
imaginations. It was a "green Christmas" with a ven- 
geance, and very hot. 

Our friends at home had not forgotten that we were more 
than a month's journey away and letters began to arrive as 
early as November in each of which some mention was made 
of a box which would be sent from Cincinnati in time to 
reach us before Christmas and, naturally, we began at once 
to imagine its contents. For weeks our children's favourite 
amusement was exchanging guesses as to what sort of gifts 
their affectionate relatives had sent them. Nor were their 
Aunt Maria and I any less excited. There were transports 

H3 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

every two weeks in those days and we were not at all dis- 
appointed not to receive our box on the early December 
ship. There would be another one in on Christmas day and 
it would be much nicer, we thought, to get it then, and 
never a doubt did we have that it would come. Mr. Taft 
had a messenger ready to get it and bring it to the house 
as soon as it could be landed. 

From our balcony we watched the transport steam up the 
bay; we felt the interest that only a Christmas box from 
home, ten thousand miles away, could excite; we forgot 
that it was eighty in the shade; it was really Christmas. 
We waited as patiently as we could for our messenger, but 
when he arrived he had only sympathy to offer us. The 
box had not come. It was a most depressing disappoint- 
ment, and the children were inconsolable. However, every- 
body cheered up about dinner time. I had done what I 
could with red ribbons and greenery, with cotton wool and 
diamond dust to create the proper atmosphere; then we had 
invited a number of homeless young secretaries and others to 
take Christmas cheer with us, and though the cold storage 
turkey was tough and the cranberry sauce and plum-pudding 
were from Commissary cans, we managed a near approach 
to a Yuletide air, and little Charlie went to bed with his 
Escolta toys quite as happy as he would have been had he 
been at home in his own country. I assured the three chil- 
dren that the box from home would come in on the next 
transport and promised that we would then have Christmas 
all over again. But I reckoned without knowledge of the 
shipping methods of the transport service. Transports 
came and transports went; our hopes were dashed to earth 
any number of times and it was endless weeks before our 
carefully prepared and holly-decked presents finally arrived. 

On New Year's morning General MacArthur gave a 
reception at Malacafian Palace. It was such an affair as is 
spoken of in social circles everywhere as "the event of the 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

season." It was a very special event to all the members of 
the Commission and their families, because not one of us had 
ever been invited to the Palace before. 

There was much discussion of the serious subject as to 
what the civil government officials should wear at the New 
Year's reception and, if gossip can be relied upon, it came 
very near causing several family riots. The men naturally 
inclined toward the comfort of their white linens, but they 
were overcome by argument and it was eventually decreed 
that they should present themselves in frock coats and silk 
hats. This may sound reasonable, but it wasn't. It was 
intensely funny, however, and that helped some. A silk 
hat which has reposed in a box throughout a rainy season in 
the Philippines is a curious object. It is not the glossy, well 
turned and dignified article which a silk hat should be. Its 
rim is warped, its nap is dulled and roughed beyond repair; 
it is very sticky, and it has an odour all its own. In Judge 
Ide's hat some mice had made a nest and had eaten a small 
hole through its one-time shiny crown, but it was the only 
one he had and, as silk hats are not carried in Philippine 
shops, he had, perforce, to wear it. 

My husband communed with himself during the process 
of getting into his heavy frock coat with all its stiff and its 
woollen accessories, — for the first time in seven months and 
in the bright white heat of a tropic morning, — but we were 
finally ready and on the way, in our diminutive Victoria 
behind the prancing black stallion ponies of uncertain dis- 
position. 

When we arrived at Malacanan, quite early as we thought, 
we found ourselves in a long block of carriages which moved 
up slowly and, one by one, discharged their occupants under 
the porte-cochere of the Palace. Considerations of rank and 
precedence had escaped our minds for the moment and this 
was evidently a very important matter. However, we 
found a capable staff of military aides who knew just where 

HS 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

everybody belonged, and they adopted the method of mar- 
shalling the crowds into a room on the first floor and letting 
them out in the proper order of precedence. In consequence 
we found a more or less annoyed throng awaiting our arrival. 
We had plenty of rank, my husband being the ranking civil 
officer in the Islands, but as everybody in Manila had been 
invited, the process of forming the line was a long and 
laborious one and many were the caustic comments of the 
delayed and rankless multitude. It reminded one forcibly 
of similar receptions at the White House, except that in 
Washington everybody knows the rules of precedence gov- 
erning diplomatic circles and recognises the necessity for 
following them, while in Manila it was a departure which 
did not meet with full and general approval. 

General MacArthur and his staff were receiving at the 
head of the grand staircase on the second floor, and, as the 
spacious rooms became filled with military men in dress uni- 
forms, with gaily attired women and black-coated civilians, 
the scene was sufficiently dignified to make one feel that a 
brilliant local society was an established fact. But there 
was no denying that it was hot and that the Army officers 
in trim white duck had the frock-coated, camphor-ball- 
scented and profusely perspiring civil government officials 
at a disadvantage. 

Nowdays — and always after that first experiment — the- 
man in a temperate-zone costume is a sadly conspicuous 
figure at a social gathering in Manila. The accepted formal 
evening dress is white linen with either a short mess jacket 
or a dinner'.coat of the usual pattern, while for morning or 
afternoon affairs a man may wear anything his laundryman 
can turn out for him. As a matter of fact, in the early days 
in Manila women, as well as men, enjoyed emancipation 
from the tyranny of clothes. It was a case of discovering 
how unnecessary many supposed necessities are. There 
were no fashionable gowns to be had, therefore sim- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

plicity, or a more or less rundownedness of one-time respect- 
ability, became the fashion. There were no hat shops, 
so women ceased to wear hats. We went shopping on 
the Escolta in the early morning hatless; we went to 
luncheon parties hatless, and in the later afternoon we 
made our calls and drove on the Luneta minus the mil- 
linery which is considered so dear to a woman's heart. I do 
not say that the women liked it; there were many plaintive 
protests; but it was one of the crosses of their environment 
which saved them numerous jealous pangs as well as much 
expense. It is different now. The importer of fashionable 
millinery and sumptuous garments has invaded the field 
and the women in Manila to-day are about as finely gowned 
and hatted as they are anywhere, but I doubt if they are as 
care-free and comfortable as we were in "the days of the 
Empire." 

It was expected that the New Year's reception at Mala- 
canan was intended to inaugurate a gay season of hospitality 
at the Palace, as General MacArthur announced a dinner 
and reception to follow early in January. But they were 
unquiet times ; for various reasons there were many postpone- 
ments; then came the death of Queen Victoria, whereupon 
the British community went into mourning, and, as it was 
deemed courteous to observe a period of social inactivity, it 
was many weeks before we again went to Malacanan. 

The campaign of pacification, due to the election of 
McKinley, the activity of the army, and the actual legisla- 
tion and organisation work of the Commission, was making 
great progress throughout the Islands and hardly a day 
passed that did not bring news of the capture or surrender of 
insurgent officers and forces in the provinces, while in Manila 
they were being arrested and imprisoned by the hundreds. 
They were given an opportunity to take the oath of allegi- 
ance and those who persisted in their refusal to do so were 
banished to Guam. This vigorous policy was having a 

H7 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

marked effect upon the spirit of the insurrection and it was 
rapidly approaching total collapse. 

The peace movement was greatly assisted, too, by the ac- 
tivities of the Federal party, a strong political organisation, 
pledged to the acceptance of American control and American 
principles, which numbered among its leaders and adherents 
many of the best men in the Philippines. In its directory 
were Chief Justice Arellano, Don Benito Legarda, Dr. Pardo 
de Tavera and General Ambrosio Flores, a one-time leader 
of the insurrection. 

Perhaps the most extraordinary demonstration any of us 
ever saw in Manila took place on Washington's birthday 
in 1901. The Commission had already begun its long task 
of instituting provincial and municipal governments and its 
members had just returned from a trip into the country north 
of Manila where they had been received with great enthusi- 
asm, and where the people had shown every indication of a 
glad determination to stop all hostilities and settle down to 
peaceful pursuits under the representative and democratic 
system which the Commission was inaugurating. 

On the evening of February 20, General MacArthur gave 
a splendid reception at Malacanan, where Americans and 
Filipinos mingled together in perfect amity, the Filipinos 
being in the majority. They seemed greatly pleased with 
the spirit of the occasion which served to demonstrate in a 
particular manner the fact that America was in the Philip- 
pines as a friend rather than as an arbitrary ruler; that there 
was to be none of the familiar colour or race prejudice, so far 
as we were concerned, in the association of the two peoples; 
that the best thing to do was to acknowledge a mutual as- 
piration and strive for its fulfilment in friendly co-opera- 
tion; and there was a heart-lift for us all, Americans and 
Filipinos alike, in the whole tone of the evening. On the 
night of the 21st, the Partido Federal gave a famous dinner 
at a new hotel where a French chef prepared the menu. 

148 







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O f V 



M E KJ 



E'l ■.,w,l L , 






Sa.-nlol ^^^ 









ATYPICAL FILIPINO MINI AND PLACE CARD 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Before this my husband had jokingly written to Secretary 
Root that he thought some sort of pension should be pro- 
vided for the widows and orphans of the men who fell in 
action before the fearful onslaughts of native hospitality, 
but at the banquet of the Federal party there were none of 
those mysterious viands to which the Commissioners had 
been trying to accustom themselves in the provinces, and in 
consequence the quality of mutual enjoyment was not 
strained, the Filipino, unlike the Japanese, being as fond of 
foreign cookery as he is of his own. The speeches were all 
of the friendliest character and the "dove of peace," verily, 
seemed to be hovering near. 

The next morning, the 22nd of February, the Federal 
party, many thousands strong, marched through a flag- 
decked city to the Luneta where a speakers' stand had been 
erected for the celebration of the day. There were scores of 
bands, each, as usual, playing its own tune in its own way 
regardless of what the others were doing; the populace, 
in its gayest attire, crowded in the wake of the procession; 
the spirit of festivity was rampant; and altogether it was a 
most interesting scene. 

As close as ten thousand people could get to a speakers' 
stand ten thousand people massed themselves, and they 
listened in respectful silence to the words of both the Ameri- 
can and Filipino speakers, each one of whom made a spirited 
appeal for peaceful co-operation in the solution of the prob- 
lem which America had acquired through no fault or desire 
of her own and which she could not, in honour, abandon. 
General Wright was the American speaker of the day and the 
frank friendliness of his speech was translated, paragraph by 
paragraph as he delivered it, by Mr. Arthur Fergusson, the 
Secretary-interpreter for the Commission, whose extraordi- 
nary command of Spanish made it possible for him not only 
to translate the words themselves, but to infuse into them 
the poetic fervour of the Spanish tongue. Never was Wash- 

149 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ington's birthday so celebrated, and it marked a new era of 
mutual toleration which was to grow into sympathetic 
understanding disturbed only by the agitation of the few 
whose aspirations were in no way in those days shared or 
.condoned by the many. 

The method adopted by the Commission for organising 
provincial governments was extremely simple. The people 
were instructed to send delegates from all the towns in a 
province to meet the Commission on a given date at the 
provincial capital. Having gathered this popular assembly 
in the largest available hall Mr. Taft, or some other member 
of the Commission, would proceed to read and explain the 
new Provincial Code which covered every governmental 
function and which provided for the appointment by the 
Commission of a provincial governor, a treasurer and a sec- 
retary. It was the intention of the Commission to name a 
Filipino for governor in each province, thereby giving them 
an immediate opportunity for the exercise of self-govern- 
ment, but in several instances they were almost unanimously 
petitioned by the people to appoint to this office the Ameri- 
can Army officer who had been in command in the district. 
Considering the attitude of the Filipinos toward military 
rule and their eagerness to substitute a purely civil form of 
government, it was really astonishing that they should have 
wished to retain any representative of the hated regime, but 
personality counts for a great deal with the Filipinos, and 
the Army officer who displayed tact and kindly justice in his 
dealings with them was sure to win for himself a peculiar 
popularity. 

For treasurer an American was almost invariably chosen. 
During Spanish times the Filipinos had not learned much 
about the proper use of public funds and they have had to 
be very painstakingly taught that government money is for 
government purposes only. To our poignant and everlast- 
ing shame object lessons had to be given them by the drastic 

150 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

punishment meted out to certain American treasurers who 
were unable to resist temptation. The penalty prescribed 
in Philippine law for the misuse of public funds or the falsi- 
fication of a public document is terribly severe, and there is 
a little band of white men in Bilibid prison in Manila to-day 
because of their venality and breach of trust. Our mission 
in the Philippines is based upon the highest principles and 
we have always striven to maintain a high moral tone in the 
government personnel, so it is particularly painful to the 
small American community when, as happened too often at 
first, an American went wrong. 

Though the Commission proceeded with the establishment 
of civil government in a conspicuously simple manner as 
much cannot be said of the Filipinos. They were bent upon 
making the most of a rare opportunity for the enjoyment 
of great and ceremonious festivity. 

On the 23d of February, following the extraordinary 
celebration of Washington's birthday, the Commission, 
accompanied by a considerable number of prominent Fili- 
pinos and by several of the ladies, took a government launch 
and steamed across the Bay to the town of Balanga, the 
capital of the province of Bataan which lies directly opposite 
Manila where the sun goes down in tropic splendour behind 
the Meriveles Mountains. This trip was a new experience 
for me and was the beginning of my long acquaintance with 
Filipino hospitality. 

As we approached the Bataan shore there were splashes 
of brilliant colour all over the surface of the Bay, which, on 
nearer view, turned out to be the decorations of a great fleet 
of bancas coming out to meet us. There must have been a 
hundred or more and, while they were of all sizes, some of 
them were large enough to hold twenty and thirty rowers. 
The banca is a long, narrow dugout which usually looks as if 
it were just about to sink. Some of these had outriggers, 
some had not, but each and every one of them was loaded to 

151 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

capacity, and each was covered with the most gorgeous deco- 
rations. Bunting and paper flowers of every hue were mixed 
with long palm leaves and branches of bamboo and every- 
thing in the nature of an ornament that could possibly be 
used, while from every angle and at every point fluttered 
small American flags, some of them home-made and only ap- 
proximately correct. Then there were two huge flat affairs 
with decorated awnings over them which we found were 
nothing less than rafts prepared for our own use, the water in 
the little harbour being too shallow for our big steam launch. 
These rafts were made of split bamboo flooring lashed to the 
tops of large bancas and, though they looked exceedingly 
unsafe, we found they would hold as many as could stand 
upon them without being pushed over the edge. 

In ten minutes this gay and unusual fleet had surrounded 
us; the rafts came alongside and over our rails clambered 
the reception committee, a half dozen Filipinos in more or 
less nondescript, heavy black clothes with silk hats ! Where 
"these garments came from I have no idea. Most of the hats 
looked like heirlooms, just as the silk hats of our own hus- 
bands looked, but the chief concern of their owners seemed 
to be their protection. Never have I seen silk hats so 
cautiously handled. 

Having got safely aboard the launch each man went 
through a deliberate process of straightening himself out and 
carefully adjusting his attire before he advanced to the stern 
of the launch where we waited to receive him. Then there 
were some set speeches of welcome in which the chief senti- 
ment seemed to be that never had the province of Bataan 
been so highly honoured and that, therefore, it and all it con- 
tained was, with feelings inexpressible, laid at the feet of the 
honourable Commission. Mr. Fergusson translated the flow- 
ers and figures of oratory and all the soaring flights of senti- 
mental generosity into literal English, then, with equal 
solemnity and impressiveness, he rendered Mr. Taft's mat- 

152 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ter-of-fact, though cordial, replies into a marvellous flow of 
Spanish eloquence. 

This formality disposed of, the reception committee 
invited us to step upon the pavilioned raft and be wafted 
ashore. It sounds like a dignified proceeding, but of course 
it was not. We had to climb over the rails of the launch 
and, more or less, slide to a secure footing on the frail floor 
of the curious craft. Contrary to my secret expectations it 
kept afloat and we were soon landed at a little fishing 
village down on the beach, where Army ambulances waited 
to take us to the town of Balanga, a mile inland. Just out- 
side of Balanga we passed under a great bamboo arch, the 
sort of thing the Filipinos erect and ornament with great 
skill and ingenuity. This one was so thickly decorated, 
however, with small American flags that little of its intricate 
frame- work was visible. A piece of white bunting stretched 
across the top of it bore, in large letters, the inscription: 
"Glory Honor to the Commission." 

We drove into the town and found the place en fete. I 
never saw so many American flags in one place in my life. 
Four thousand of them had been bought in Manila for the 
occasion ; and four thousand flags go a long way in decorat- 
ing a small provincial town. There was not much of the 
town left uncovered. 

When we got to the provincial building where the meet- 
ing was to be held, we found all the delegates gathered from 
the different villages a-tiptoe in an atmosphere of intense 
excitement. Bataan had never been a rich province and 
we discovered that few of the Filipinos understood Spanish. 
They spoke only Tagalog. This was due to the fact that 
the province had been for generations under the control of 
the Dominican Friars who did not believe in encouraging the 
natives to learn Spanish. In consequence, all the speeches 
had to be translated from English to Spanish, from Spanish 
to Tagalog, and vice versa. Felipe Calderon, the Manila 

153 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

lawyer who handled the San Jose College case for the 
People, acted as Tagalog interpreter, and I have often won- 
dered just how much of the familiar Spanish hyperbole was 
convertible into the phrases of that primitive language. It 
made the proceedings very long and tedious, but we sat 
through them and they finally came to an end with much 
cheering for the newly appointed officials. 

The Filipinos were greatly pleased at having the Commis- 
sioners bring their wives and daughters along. It was 
new to them and they were not slow to grasp its significance. 
Much to the disgust of the military authorities present, we 
all shook hands with everybody and assumed the friendliest 
kind of attitude. That the Army officers did not ap- 
prove of our cordiality toward the Filipinos can hardly be 
wondered a{. They had been subjected to the risks of a 
campaign of ambush and assassination for many months, 
and even then they were trying to bring in a band of about 
one hundred and fifty insurrectos, with as many rifles, who 
were hiding in the Meriveles Mountains and preying upon 
the people; so, it was natural for them to think that a policy 
of disdain and severity was the only one suited to the appar- 
ent unreliability and deceitfulness of the native. However, 
these same officers very shortly admitted to us, though rather 
unwillingly, that our mode of dealing with the people had 
had an extraordinary effect on the general tone in Bataan. 

It was about this time that President McKinley communi- 
cated through Secretary Root the intention of the Adminis- 
tration to abolish the military governorship and to install a 
civil Governor under the power of the President as Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and to create civil departments also. 
When Mr. Taft received a cable from Secretary Root advis- 
ing him of this fact, he went to see General MacArthur for 
the purpose of discussing with him the mode of procedure 
and to get his ideas as to how and when the transfer of 
power should be made. 

154 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The General had begun to look upon the work of the Com- 
mission from a somewhat less prejudiced angle and was by 
this time freely admitting that the establishment of pro- 
vincial and municipal governments was having a good effect. 
He, of course, did not wish to surrender his power as military 
governor and remain in the Islands in a less important po- 
sition, but he thought somebody would soon be named to suc- 
ceed him and that the proper time for the transfer was after 
his successor arrived. Mr. Taft was going, with the other 
members of the Commission, on a long organising trip 
through the southern islands, and he thought he could not 
be ready for the adjustment of affairs before the end of 
June, so it was decided that the civil Governor should be 
inaugurated on the 4th of July, and my husband soon re- 
ceived assurances that he would be asked to serve in that 
capacity. 



155 






CHAPTER VIII 

AN HISTORIC TRIP 

The Philippine Islands as mere territory do not seem to 
have impressed themselves very forcibly upon the general 
American mind, and the average person one talks with 
really has but a vague conception of their importance as re- 
gards number and area. There are enthusiasts who do not 
hesitate to declare for the edification of wondering friends 
that there are more than three thousand islands in the 
group, but it is necessary to explain that a vast majority of 
these are mere dots upon the map not to be considered in 
the sum total of habitable area. And yet the archipelago 
is one of the finest on earth and not much smaller in point 
of arable land than the whole Japanese island empire with 
its fifty-odd millions of inhabitants. 

It is a rather widely distributed territory and its popula- 
tion, some seven millions six hundred thousand in number, 
comprises a variety of peoples, each of which has its own 
language and its own traditions, though all Christian Fil- 
ipinos are much alike in general characteristics. 

Personally to superintend the establishment of civil gov- 
ernment throughout the Islands at a time when many of the 
people were still in sympathy with armed resistance to our 
authority was a tremendous task for the Commission to un- 
dertake, but it was thought that only through direct contact 
could anything like sympathetic understanding be obtained. 
Tranquillity had, as speedily as possible, to be restored, and 
while the ungentle persuasion of armed force continued for 
some time to be a necessity, the methods adopted by the civil 
officials never failed to make a visible and lasting impres- 
sion. 

It was decided in the beginning that the ladies should 
accompany the Commissioners on their long organising trip 

156 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

through the southern islands and the success of our visit to 
Bataan proved to us that as members of the governmental 
party we could make ourselves distinctly useful. 

We wanted to get away much earlier than we did but the 
exigencies of the still active military operations made it im- 
possible for the Commanding General to supply us with a 
transport, so it was not until the tenth of March that we 
started out on what proved to be one of the most unique 
expeditions of my life. 

It begins to get very hot in the Philippines in March and 
this being our first "hot season" in the Islands we felt it 
particularly. It is always warm enough but there is a 
variety in the temperature which one soon begins to appreci- 
ate. From November to February it is almost always 
delightful, just warm enough; and sometimes, in the even- 
ings, cool enough for light wraps. But in March the heat 
becomes intense and not until the rains begin in June or 
July can anything pleasant truthfully be said about the 
climate. 

However, this southern island trip was not a pleasure 
jaunt and it was of such historic interest that none of us 
was willing, out of consideration for personal comfort, to 
forego the privilege of making it. 

General MacArthur assigned to the Commission for the 
southern trip the transport Sumner, which contained suf- 
ficient cabin space to accommodate in comfort a large party. 
Besides all the ladies in the civil government, the Commis- 
sion had invited some newspaper men and a number of 
prominent Filipinos who were pledged to the restoration of 
peace under American control. Among them were represent- 
atives of all the peoples in the southern islands to be visited. 
Then, too, we all took our children. We had to; and it was 
fortunate for us that they were such experienced and adapt- 
able little people else they might have proved a great 
nuisance in such a mixed party and on a trip where we were 

157 



' RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

to stop at twenty-odd different towns and attend innumer- 
able meetings, banquetes and bailes. But, as it was, they 
gave us little trouble. Mrs. Moses' little daughter, who 
had just come out from San Francisco, my daughter Helen 
and my son Robert, Mr. Fergusson's son Arthur and young 
Jack Branagan, were all about the same age, and they never 
tired of devising games that could be played around such 
parts of the decks as were not infested with grown-ups. 
Then, to while away the hours when their elders were at- 
tending ceremonies on shore, they explored bays and rivers 
in a sailboat which was rigged out for them by Captain 
Lyman, of the Sumner, a most fatherly man who seemed to 
enjoy this unusual opportunity to indulge his love for chil- 
dren. On the beaches they collected an infinite variety of 
shells, corals and malodorous marine curiosities, but these 
they kept on the lower decks where they could enjoy them 
in peace. Charlie was, of course, the ship's baby. He was 
younger than either of the Worcester children and, I am 
afraid, somewhat less well behaved. He scorned their 
rather quiet amusements and led a strenuous and indepen- 
dent existence which gave me some uneasiness. He rushed 
around over the ship with the utmost carelessness, deliver- 
ing orders in a strange jargon to his little Filipino nurse, 
who was always rushing after him just far enough behind to 
be utterly useless in case anything should happen to him. 
It was a certainty that should he fall overboard she would 
reach the rail just in time to see him sink. Some of the 
deck rails were low, but strange to say he came through 
without accident. I think Charlie must have acquired 
some of the surefootedness of a cat. He had been twice 
around the world before he was eight years old, and that he 
managed to grow up into an unscarred and quite decorous 
young man was certainly not due to natural caution on his 
part nor to over-restraint on ours. 

It was an interesting party gathered on the Sumner. 

158 




y. ■ 

> '«* 

g w 

- - 



< X 
- H 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Among others were the Atkinsons. Mr. Atkinson was the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction who had recently come 
out from Springfield, Massachusetts, and who was mak- 
ing this trip for the purpose of seeing what steps should or 
could be taken to introduce a system of public instruction in 
a practically schoolless land. The Commission had appro- 
priated just as much for the establishment of public schools 
as the treasury could spare, this being the natural American 
thing to do under the circumstances, and no time was to be 
lost in getting down to practical work. And, I should like to 
note, that in no enterprise which America has undertaken in 
the Philippines have we received such enthusiastic support 
and co-operation from the Filipinos as in this. That they 
were tremendously alive to the value of the educational 
privileges offered to them is proved by the phenomenal suc- 
cess attained by the public school system which was intro- 
duced. District schools, village and town schools, the high 
school and the normal school are to-day as much a cherished 
part of Philippine life as such institutions are a part of the 
great "American idea" in the United States. And in addi- 
tion to these a University has been founded which promises 
to become one of the finest institutions of learning in the 
whole East. Whatever may be said about the American 
Constitution there can be no dispute about the fact that edu- 
cation follows the flag. 

The Filipinos in our party, who were invited to go in 
order that they might give the Commission information and 
advice and also, in some measure, explain to their own com- 
patriots the intentions of the American Government, in- 
cluded Chief Justice Arellano, the two Supreme Court 
Judges, Llorente and Araneta, and the originators of the 
Federal Party, Don Benito Legarda, Doctor Pardo de 
Tavera and General Flores. The Federal Party expected 
to organise in the far provinces and it was hoped this would 
have a healthy effect on insular politics. There were about 

159 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

sixty of us in all and I think we must have seemed rather 
a formidable host to some of the nervous reception commit- 
tees that were forced to encounter us. 

It was all wonderfully interesting. Our first stop was at 
Lucena in the Province of Tayabas. We arrived there in 
the late afternoon so we had to lie at anchor until next 
morning, but while the daylight lasted we gazed eagerly at 
the shore through our field glasses and were astonished to see 
the crowds of Filipinos not only lining the beach but wading 
in throngs out into the Bay, as far as they safely could. It 
was as if they had decided to walk out to meet us. And 
the town was decorated, decorated magnificently. There 
were bamboo arches a-flutter with flags and flags flying 
everywhere, to say nothing of bunting and palm leaves and 
myriads of gay paper streamers. 

Bright and early the next morning the reception commit- 
tee came out in a steam launch, accompanied by Colonel 
Gardiner, the American Army officer in command of the 
garrison. The Filipinos, immaculate little ex-insurrectos to 
a man, proudly climbed the gangway, stopped to adjust their 
attire, then proceeded to bid us welcome with the utmost 
grace. Their spokesman made the usual cordial speech, 
which Mr. Fergusson solemnly interpreted. He laid at our 
feet everything to which he or the town of Lucena had any 
claim, and assured us that the honour of our visit was most 
deeply appreciated by the entire community; then he and 
his companions stood smiling before us while Mr. Fergusson 
turned my husband's simple words of thanks and apprecia- 
tion into Spanish metaphor and hyperbole. 

I have often thought that America never could have won 
the friendship of the Filipinos if it hadn't been for Mr. 
Arthur Fergusson's clever tongue. My husband's smile and 
frank geniality accomplished much, but his interpreter's 
suavity struck a deeper and more familiar chord and together 
they created harmony. They were a remarkable pair as 

160 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

they stood side by side. Neither of them weighed less than 
three hundred pounds, but Mr. Taft was blond and ruddy, 
Anglo-Saxon no less in appearance than in manner and 
speech, while Mr. Fergusson was dark and rather dashing 
and seemed naturally to assume the lofty mien of a Spaniard 
when he spoke the beautiful Spanish tongue. Mr. Fergus- 
son became Executive Secretary of the Islands when Civil 
Government was established and continued in that office 
until his death about six years ago. His loss to the men 
who were then doing America's work in the Philippines was 
incalculable and the whole community, Filipinos and Amer- 
icans alike, joined in the warmest tributes to his memory that 
have ever been paid to an American in the Islands. 

When we arrived at the landing in Lucena we found a 
motley throng of vehicles awaiting us, and were greeted by a 
roar of vociferous speech from the cocheros which sounded 
like imprecations, but which turned out to be the Filipino 
equivalent for the deafening "Cab, lady! Cab, sir!" with 
which travellers are welcomed at so many American railway 
stations. 

Mr. Taft and I, who seemed, in the opinions of our hosts, 
to be the only persons of real importance present, were cere- 
moniously escorted to a diminutive Victoria decorated with 
flowers, while the rest of the party indiscriminately clam- 
bered into the nearest conveyances. Then started a mad 
race down an execrable road, where the holes and ruts were 
so filled with dust that there was no way of foreseeing or 
preparing for the bumps. Our carriage, being a sedate 
"flower parade" all by itself, was soon left far behind by 
the sportier two wheel vehicles, and when we arrived at the 
Municipal Building, where the meeting was to be held, 
confusion reigned. I have no doubt that several private 
secretaries had been greeted as the honourable "Presidente 
del Commission," but if so, their fleeting honours detracted 
nothing from the welcome we received. 

161 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The streets were crowded with men, women and children 
waving flags and shrilly cheering, and just in front of the 
hall were drawn up two Filipino bands dressed in gorgeous, 
heavy uniforms decorated with such scraps of gold lace as 
they had been able to procure. Together they struck up the 
"Star Spangled Banner," but they kept together for just 
about two bars, each leader having his own fixed idea as to 
the proper tempo. One band finished several bars ahead of 
the other, and immediately, without so much as a lowering of 
instruments, it hurled itself into "A Hot Time in the Old 
Town To-night," whereupon the uplift of "Don't you hear 
those bells go ding-a-ling" collided merrily with the solemn 
sentiment of "Long may it wave!" Yet nobody laughed. 
We were cultivating a sobriety of demeanour because we 
knew we were dealing with a people whose ears heard not 
and whose eyes saw not as we hear and see. 

The meeting which followed our spectacular reception was 
exceedingly interesting. The questions of the Commis- 
sioners elicited the information that Tayabas had been com- 
pletely pacified for more than a year, although the sur- 
rounding provinces, Cavite, Laguna and Batangas, were 
among the most unruly in the Archipelago. This happy 
state of affairs seems to have been produced by Colonel 
Gardiner, in command of the garrison, who had displayed 
great tact in dealing with the peacefully inclined Filipinos 
and absolute military rigidity in his attitude toward the in- 
surrectos. That his methods had gained popular approval 
was evidenced by the fact that every town in the province 
petitioned the Commission to make him Governor. The 
requisite permission to do this having been obtained from 
General MacArthur, who, as Military Governor, had spe- 
cially to detail army officers for such service, it was done 
amid general rejoicing made violent by brassy discords from 
the jubilant bands which nearly drove me out of the 
building. 

162 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

There were many speeches and Mr. Taft, as usual, read 
and explained the Provincial Code to the assembly. After 
I had listened almost daily for more than six weeks to that 
dry-as-dust document I was sure that I could repeat it back- 
ward if I tried. Mr. Taft finished his speech with a neat 
little summing up of conditions in general, — mellifluously 
embellished by Mr. Fergusson, — then he introduced Chief 
Justice Arellano as the ablest lawyer in the Islands and a 
man whom any country would be proud to own; which was 
literally true. The Chief Justice spoke for some time, 
earnestly, appealingly, and with great dignity, and he was 
listened to with reverence. I had hoped that his speech 
would end the proceedings, but this was only the beginning 
of my experience with the Filipino love of oratory and I 
never thereafter entertained any optimistic ideas with regard 
to time limits. 

But, as all things must, the meeting came to an end and, 
stretching our weary bodies, we accepted an invitation to 
view the town. Our progress was triumphal. In our 
flower-decked Victoria, with the municipal presidente on 
the little seat in front of us, Mr. Taft and I moved slowly 
along, one band in front of us blaring out "A Hot Time in 
the Old Town" with all the force of its lungs, and the other 
behind us doing its best to make itself heard and appre- 
ciated in a wholly original rendition of "Ta-ra-ra-ra-boom- 
de-ay." Then came the other members of our party in 
nondescript vehicles which jolted and creaked. 

Speaking of Filipino bands, it may be thought that my 
partial description of those in Lucena is exaggerated. Not 
at all. There are more bands in the Philippines, perhaps, 
than any other one thing. The Filipinos as a people are 
extremely musical and, in many instances, have proved 
themselves capable of reaching a high point of musical 
proficiency, but in the early days of American occupation 
a vast majority of the musicians were the rankest amateurs 

163 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

who played "by ear" only. They had never been taught, 
but they could play, after a fashion, anything that any- 
body could whistle, sing or pick out for them on any instru- 
ment. They had listened to the American regimental 
bands and they had made selection for their own repertoires 
of such pieces as were easiest to play, hence the popularity 
of "A Hot Time in the Old Town," "Ta-ra-ra-ra-boom-de- 
ay," "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey" and things of 
like character. They did not know the words, or the "senti- 
ment" of the songs; they knew only the tunes, and these 
they played at all times, for occasions either solemn or gay. 
Of my own experience I can testify that "A Hot Time in 
the Old Town" makes a perfectly good funeral march when 
reduced to a measure sufficiently lugubrious. 

It didn't take us long to see the town and when my ears 
could endure the discords no longer I explained to the 
pleasant little presidcnte that I thought it was necessary 
for the ladies to return to the transport for a rest before it 
was time to dress for the evening festivities. He protested 
that the town was ours, that his house and everything in it 
belonged solely to us, but I was backed up by my husband 
and the ladies finally were permitted to go out to the 
Sumner for a short respite. No such luck for the men. 
They had to attend a prodigious luncheon, an afternoon 
banquete really, and then continue, for the rest of the day, 
their interviews with Lucena citizens and American Army 
officers. And, be it remembered, it was insufferably hot. 

The banquete and baile that evening were typical Fili- 
pino entertainments, novelties to me then and intensely 
interesting. It was a procession, a meeting, a banquete and 
a baile every day for nearly seven weeks unless by a happy 
turn of events it became necessary for us to sail for our 
next port in the afternoon instead of at midnight as we gen- 
erally did. Under such circumstances, if any special enter- 
tainments had been prepared for the evening, such as torch- 

164 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

light processions, illuminations, or fireworks, they were duly 
produced in broad daylight, thereby losing much in general 
effect no doubt, but nothing in their proof of friendly in- 
tentions. 

Processions and meetings may be just processions and 
meetings, but banquet es and bailes are not just banquets 
and balls, and that is why I always refer to them by their 
Spanish names. 

We arrived at the banquete in Lucena at seven o'clock 
and found, in a great open room in a public building of 
some sort, a long table laden with mysteries. In the centre 
was a tremendous ornament, made entirely of toothpicks, 
built up to represent a flower garden. Whoever made it 
was a genius with both imagination and delicacy of touch. 
All along both sides of the table were strange, highly or- 
namental and formidable looking dishes which were evi- 
dently meant to be eaten. I didn't know what they were, 
but having acquired a cosmopolitan attitude toward food 
I was not at all dismayed. My chief concern related to 
the fact that a Filipino host expects one to eat at least a 
little of everything that is served and through endless 
courses of elaborately prepared meats one's appetite natur- 
ally becomes jaded. 

The most important and distinguished Filipinos did not 
sit down at table with us. It is el costwnbre del pais for 
the Filipino host to wait on his guests, to hover about and 
see that he enjoys what is given him, and until one gets used 
to it it is most disconcerting. The presidentes and fiscals 
and generals and other illustrados were not as skilful as 
trained servants and I found myself leaning this way and 
that in momentary expectation that one of them, in his 
excitement, would accidentally slip some sticky mixture 
down my back. There were speeches of course; there al- 
ways are ; and then more speeches, but we had to get to the 
baile, so they were not too long drawn out. 

165 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The bailc was given in the Municipal Building where the 
meeting of the morning was held, and when we arrived 
we found the hall quite filled with guests. The Filipino 
women didn't display so many jewels and fine garments in 
those days as now because, in certain quarters, the insur- 
rectos were still levying tribute, but the girls and women, 
many of them quite pretty, were very gay in long, trailing 
calico skirts and jusz, sinamay or pina camisas, while the 
men were attired in all manner of garments from calico 
and white linen to black cloth. 

The men are nearly all excellent dancers, but the women 
are hampered somewhat in the ordinary "round dances" 
by their foot gear. They don't wear shoes, — nor stock- 
ings either. At least, they didn't in those days. They 
thrust their bare toes into little slippers called chinelas and 
cuchos, which look for all the world like fancy bed-slippers. 
There are two kinds : cuchos being considered very "dressy" 
and having heels which clatter on the floor, while chinelas 
are heelless and make a scuffing, shuffling noise. 

The first dance of the evening at any baile is the rigodon 
which is really the national dance of the Philippines. I 
am not going to try to describe it because I know I can't, 
though I have danced it hundreds of times. It is the real 
ceremony on such an occasion. It can be likened to an old- 
fashioned quadrille, but the square is made up of as many 
couples opposite each other as there is space and there are 
couples. There are a number of graceful and somewhat in- 
tricate but stately figures. It is a dance unique and, as far as 
I know, confined to the Philippine Islands. I'm afraid we 
made but a poor display in our first attempts at the rigodon, 
but by dint of watching others night after night both my 
husband and I became most proficient at it. I always had 
for my partner the most conspicuous illustrado in any com- 
munity, while Mr. Taft conferred the honour of his attend- 

166 




J o 
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.- DC 

— c/; 



£ q 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ance upon the lady of highest rank. This was important 
as a recognition of the established formalities. 

We left Lucena pretty much exhausted and slightly 
aghast at the prospect of sixty consecutive days of such 
strenuous festivities. Our route on the map lay like a 
tangled thread throughout the archipelago, and its imme- 
diate trend was toward the Equator, further and further 
south. Every point marked as a stopping place meant a 
full programme of business and festivities, but, hot as it 
was, not one of us willingly would have turned back. 
There was strong fascination in the very names of the 
places we were bound for. 

First came Boak on the island of Marinduque. Who 
wouldn't endure a little discomfort for the sake of seeing 
Boak? This province could not yet be organised because it 
was not sufficiently peaceful for the successful introduction 
of civil government. The Commissioners, after endless 
interviews with Army officers and with leading Filipinos 
who were eager for the restoration of normal conditions, 
promised to return to the province on the way back to 
Manila and complete its organisation if, by that time, cer- 
tain stipulations should have been complied with. This 
meant the bringing in of a couple of hundred insurrecto 
rifles and the gathering together of properly accredited rep- 
resentatives of the people from all parts of the island. We 
left behind us a disappointed but a determined town, and 
when we returned nearly seven weeks later we found such 
a difference as proved the wisdom of delay. 

The Commissioners were really walking in the dark. 
Only through personal investigation could they learn the 
exact conditions in any town or province and this investi- 
gation had always to precede any definite action on their 
part. This made the proceedings long and arduous for 
them and drew the days out endlessly for the rest of us. 

167 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Romblon, Masbate, Iloilo, Bacolod; each with its distinct 
problem, each with its own impassioned orators, and each 
offering boundless hospitality; we left them all in better 
condition, we hoped, than we found them and, certainly, 
we carried away from each in turn a feeling of great friend- 
liness and gratitude for the courtesies they so enthusiastic- 
ally extended. 

From Bacolod, in oriental Negros, we set our course 
straight south to Jolo, to the Sulu Islands, to the realm of 
the comic opera sultan, and we woke up one brilliant morn- 
ing to find ourselves in the prettiest harbour imaginable and 
in the midst of scenes which we could not believe belonged 
to the Philippine world. We were in Moroland. Straight 
before us, in the curve of the beautiful bay, lay a little white 
city, surrounded by bastioned walls which looked age-old, 
and backed by soft green hills and groves of tall cocoanut 
palms. A high white watch tower at the end of a long pier 
reminded one of piratical days and of Spain's never-end- 
ing troubles with her Mohammedan subjects. Off to the 
right, against the farthest shore, was the strangest collection 
of habitations I had ever seen. To be told that the Moros 
live on the water is to imagine them living in boats, but 
these were houses built far out in the water, perched up 
on frail wooden stilts and joined together by crooked and 
rickety bamboo bridges. 

The harbour was full of curious small craft; high pro wed 
and beautifully carved war junks, long, graceful praos and 
slender canoes with bamboo outriggers, nearly all carrying 
sails of fantastic design and brilliant hues. Indeed, there 
was colour everywhere. Everything afloat was decorated 
in gaudy silks and pennants, the American flag predom- 
inating, while all the Moros who wore anything except a 
loin cloth were attired in costumes which were lively and 
strikingly original. These were made, for the most part, 

168 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of rich silks of native weave in stripes or plaids of vivid, 
crude greens, reds and yellows, and from neck to ankle the 
more elegant ones were so tight that one wondered how 
they stood the strain. Around his waist each man wore a 
bright silk sash under which was thrust a long cruel look- 
ing knife in an ornamental and curiously shaped scabbard. 

The picturesque fleet quickly surrounded the Sumner and 
while we watched the lithe, naked boys diving into the clear 
depths of the bay for coins that were thrown overboard 
for the purpose of testing their prowess, the American Army 
officers came aboard to bid us welcome to Jolo. 

They explained that the Sultan of Sulu had given them 
some diplomatic difficulties which, they were glad to say, 
they had been able to overcome. He had at first decided 
to play the haughty monarch and to extend a royal invita- 
tion to the American officials to pay their respects to him 
at his "palace." But a little reasoning had convinced him 
that the Commissioners were the accredited representatives 
of the President of the United States whose sovereignty 
he acknowledged and that it was therefore his duty to call 
on them, so, it was announced, he was on his way to the 
landing where the officers' launch waited to bring him out 
to the Sumner. 

Several large war junks carrying different chiefs, or 
dattos, preceded the imperial visitor and these men came 
aboard without waiting for His Majesty. We found them 
extremely entertaining. They were by far the most pic- 
turesque figures we had seen, and utterly unlike Filipinos. 
They were of a different build, lithe, active and graceful, 
with a free and defiant gaze which offered a strong contrast 
to the soft-eyed modesty of the Christian tribes. In their 
sashes they all carried long knives called barongs, campildns 
and kHses, which Mr. Worcester induced some of them to 
exhibit to our delighted eyes. They were of the most 

169 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

exquisite workmanship and design, inlaid, some of them, 
with gold and silver, and with hilts of hardwood beautifully 
carved. 

Finally the officers' launch put out from the dock and 
we knew that the Sultan was approaching. As he came 
alongside the Sumner he received a salute of seventeen 
guns while we all stood by holding our ears and stiffening 
our nerves against the deafening shock. We were expect- 
ing some one similar in appearance to our friends the dattos, 
except that we were sure he would be accoutred in three 
times as much barbaric splendour. Fancy our disappoint- 
ment then, when there emerged from the low awning of 
the launch a figure quite commonplace; a very short, very 
black little man in a heavy uniform of black cloth embroi- 
dered in gold braid, not unlike the uniform of a British 
Consul. He was awkward and homely and he had shiny 
black teeth; that is how- I remember him. He had two 
attendants who served only to accentuate his own insignifi- 
cance. The Commission got nothing out of him either. 
He had none of the polish and gentlemanly manners of the 
Filipino leaders, and conversation of any kind with him 
was found to be extremely difficult. Almost the only inter- 
esting remark he made was to invite the ladies of our party 
to call on his many wives, a thing I should have greatly 
enjoyed, but which was impossible because the Sultan's 
"palace" was back over the hills, on the other side of the 
island, a long way from Jolo. 

The problem of the government of the territory in- 
habited by the Moros in a measure adjusted itself. These 
Mohammedans have always been unruly and independent 
and were never wholly conquered by the Spaniards, and 
they absolutely refused, as they have since continued to do, 
to be placed under Filipino control. So it was decided to 
detach them from the general organisation and to place 
them under a 'semi-military system with an American Army 

170 




A MORO DATU WITH HIS RETINUE, AND THE FAVORITE WIFE OF 
A DATU WITH HER MAIDS-IN-WAITING 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

officer of high rank in charge in the dual capacity of Gov- 
ernor and Commanding General of Troops in the Moro 
Province. This system was developed to a point where a 
high state of efficiency obtained in the government to the 
complete satisfaction of nearly everybody. To solve the 
problem of juramentado, or religious fanatic outbreaks, a 
general order for the disarmament of Moros had to be 
enforced, but only a comparatively small number of natives 
took part in the armed resistance. For all of them it was 
hard, no doubt, to have to surrender their beloved and time- 
honoured weapons, but the wisest among them recognised 
the necessity of obedience for the sake of the general good. 
If this had not been so it would have been vastly more dif- 
ficult to make the order effective. These wise ones are 
to-day everywhere busy upholding the American policy of 
establishing markets and schools and honest trade relations, 
and in preaching to their people that, for the first time in 
their history, they are being fairly and justly dealt with. 
They cling to American protection with determined faith, 
telling us in plain words that if we leave them they will 
fight their neighbours. So, whatever we may do with the 
Philippine Islands we cannot abandon the Moros, and this 
adds a grave complication to our Philippine problem. 

At Jolo we received the news of the capture of Aguinaldo 
and his reception by General MacArthur at Malacafian 
Palace. General Funston, then a Colonel of Volunteers, 
was a conspicuous member of a small company of Army 
officers known locally as "the suicide squad," who risked 
their lives in one exploit after another with the utmost un- 
concern, not to say glee, so we were not surprised at any- 
thing he might do. But there was a real thrill in the story 
of his daring venture into the remote and isolated camp of 
the insurrecto general and Dictator, and we cheered his per- 
formance with heartfelt enthusiasm, though our ardour was 
somewhat dampened by doubts as to what the arch-con- 

171 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

spirator would do in Manila. General MacArthur was not 
a politician; he was a soldier, — an officer and a gentleman, 
— and in his treatment of his captured enemy he was not 
likely to take into consideration the nature of the people 
with whom he was dealing. 

However, that story has been told, well and often. We 
know that General Aguinaldo also was "an officer and a 
gentleman," proving himself worthy of all the courtesy 
extended to him and accepting defeat with great dignity. 
He is the most striking figure in the Philippines even to- 
day, though one only hears of him as a peaceful and unam- 
bitious farmer in his native province of Cavite whence he 
emerges only on rare occasions to be present at some impor- 
tant social event in Manila where, among Americans in 
particular, he is most highly regarded. But, it must be 
remembered that at the time of his capture the Islands were 
still in a state far from satisfactory; that he had lieutenants 
in all parts of the archipelago endeavouring, under his 
orders, and by methods not counted as "civilised," to keep 
alive the spirit of rebellion, and that he had an extraordi- 
nary genius for conspiracy and organisation. So it cannot 
be wondered at that my husband was deeply concerned and 
that he wished he were back in Manila where he could keep 
his large but gentle hand upon the delicate situation. 

From Jolo we sailed to Zamboanga, capital of the Moro 
province, and thence to Cottabato. At Zamboanga we met 
an entirely different class of Moros, more refined, better 
educated and less spectacular than those in the Sulu 
Island^, and were entertained by the American Army 
officers in the ancient Fortress del Pilar, which still 
bears the marks of many a conflict between the Moros 
and the Spaniards. We met here two very interest- 
ing men, Datto Mandi, a Moro, and Midel, a leading Fili- 
pino. Mandi was said to be, and looked, part Spaniard, 
though he denied the Spanish blood. He was the chief of a 

172 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

tribe of many thousands of people and wielded a wide influ- 
ence which the American Government never sought to cur- 
tail. He was a good business man and intensely loyal to the 
Americans, giving substantial demonstrations of his loyalty 
whenever opportunity offered. He told the Commission 
what has since proved to be the truth about Moro customs 
relative to slavery, the administration, of justice and other 
matters, and displayed, altogether, a genuinely friendly and 
helpful attitude. Midel, the Filipino, was himself made 
a datto by Mandi and seemed inordinately proud of his 
rank. He was an odd individual with a doubtful record 
behind him. Sometime before we met him he had sent his 
son to be educated at the University of California, and it 
was he who delivered the province over to the American 
troops as soon as they arrived, having previously disposed 
of a couple of insurgent rivals of his own race who at- 
tempted to keep it out of American hands. t 

At Cottabato, a long day's sailing from Zamboanga 
across Illana Bay, we met the Moros who inhabit the 
valley of the Rio Grande del Mindanao, a large and sin- 
ister looking river. We communicated with these people 
through their dattos, Piang and Ali. Piang is the most 
powerful datto in the province. He is the son of a Chinese 
carpenter and a common Moro woman, and he won his 
position through shrewdness, generosity to his people and 
native ability. Ordinarily a peaceful conservative he was 
not always at peace with Ali, who is inherently warlike and 
a datto of royal descent, but a couple of American Army 
officers, Colonel Brett and Major MacMahon, in charge 
of the post at Cottabato, not only adjusted their differences 
but induced the royal Ali to marry the commoner Piang's 
daughter. Colonel Brett was Ali's "best man," while 
Major MacMahon stood sponsor for the bride. There are 
American Army officers who have seen strange service in 
our Far Eastern possessions. , 

173 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

A few years after the time of which I write a daughter of 
Datto Mandi was married at Iligan in northern Mindanao 
and, to quote from Foreman's "History of the Philippines" : 
"Several American officers were present on the occasion, 
accompanied by a Spanish half caste who acted as their 
interpreter. The assembled guests were having a merry 
time when suddenly the festivities were interrupted by the 
intrusion of a jura?nentado Moro fanatic, who sprang for- 
ward with his campildn and at one blow almost severed the 
interpreter's head from his body. Then he turned his at- 
tention to the other natives, mortally wounded two, and 
cut gashes in several others before he fell dead before the 
revolver shots fired by the American officers. After the 
dead and wounded were carried away and the pools of blood 
were mopped up, the wedding ceremony was proceeded with 
and the hymeneal festival was resumed without further 
untoward incident." 

We were very fortunate that, disturbed as conditions 
were, no "untoward incident" of this nature occurred to 
mar the serenity of our first great trip through the Islands. 

To illustrate Datto Piang's intense desire to establish his 
status as a loyal friend of the United States Government I 
think I must relate, in part, the conversation my husband 
had with him in regard to the gutta percha industry. The 
forests in the Rio Grande Valley and around Lake Lanao, 
in the northern part of the island were thought to be almost 
inexhaustible in their supply of gutta percha trees, and 
Piang was found to be a large dealer in the product. But 
inquiry elicited the information that the most primitive 
methods were employed in gathering the gum and that every 
year thousands of trees were destroyed, no idea of scientific 
conservation ever having entered the heads of the Moros. 
Mr. Taft asked Piang whether if we sent him an expert who 
knew how to have the trees treated he would undertake to 
enforce regulations which such an expert would frame. He 

174 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

said he acknowledged the sovereignty of the United States 
Government and held himself subject to its orders, every- 
one of which he would obey. Moreover, he would make all 
the other dattos obey the same orders whether they were 
willing to do so or not. Then Mr. Taft explained that the 
United States Government might desire to lay a cable from 
San Francisco to the Philippines and that one of the great 
items of expense in such an enterprise was the gutta percha. 
He was merely trying to impress upon Piang's mind the 
immense value of his product and the necessity for its 
proper handling, but Piang immediately offered to make the 
United States a present of all the gutta percha it needed for 
a Pacific cable, declaring that all he wanted was a note from 
the authorities indicating the amount required. He would 
see that it was promptly gathered and delivered. Mr. Taft 
then told him that the United States always paid for what- 
ever it received from any person, whether subject to its 
sovereignty or not, whereupon Piang declared that, anyway, 
he preferred to sell his gutta percha to the United States, 
and at a much lower price, too, than he was receiving from 
the Chinese dealers. He is just a clever, crafty Chinaman 
himself, is Datto Piang, but an interesting figure. After 
a thorough investigation of Cottabato and a right royal 
entertainment provided by a number of gorgeously attired 
dattos and sultans, of greater or less degree, who had 
gathered in the town to greet us, and gaze in wide-eyed curi- 
osity upon us, we went on our way around the great island 
of Mindanao. 

At Davao we saw thousands of acres of the highest hemp 
in the world, and a number of beautiful bead-bedecked hill 
tribes who had come down into coast civilisation for the 
purpose, no doubt, of seeing what we looked like. 

These hill tribes are very interesting people. They are, 
perhaps, more picturesque than any of the other non- 
Christians, and they have developed to a fine point the art 

175 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of making bead embroidered clothing. So beautiful and so 
unusual are these garments that the ladies in the party, for- 
getting everything else, made a grand rush to purchase some 
of them from the various tribesmen. Our eagerness, in- 
deed, had finally to be restrained in order that attention 
might be given to the efforts of the Commission to enlighten 
the people as to our mission, but having patiently awaited 
the termination of business we returned to our search for 
the bead-work, only to find that the finer specimens could 
not by any process of cajolery be secured. Money meant 
nothing to the hillmen and we had no substitutes in the way 
of gewgaws to offer them. The only one of us who suc- 
ceeded in getting a really good suit was Miss Anne Ide, and 
her success was the result of a curious incident. She met a 
chieftain gorgeously arrayed, and at a venture tried upon 
him the Samoan greeting and a Samoan song which she had 
learned in her childhood when her father was Chief Justice 
of the Samoan Islands. To her great surprise the Bogobo 
answered and seemed greatly pleased. He had already had 
conveyed to him the fact that the only thing the ladies 
wanted was bead clothing, so he indicated to Miss Ide that 
he would present to her his coat and pants, and without 
further ado, and much to her astonishment, he began to 
divest himself of these garments which she accepted with 
delight. The incident awakened natural curiosity on our 
part as to the relation between the Polynesian language of 
Samoa and the vernacular of the hill tribes around the 
Davao gulf. 

From Davao we proceeded on our journey around 
Mindanao, sailing out into the open Pacific and up to the 
province of Surigao in the northeast corner of the island. 

The town of Surigao lies six miles up a swamp-bound, 
sluggish river and we experienced, as we so often did in the 
whole course of the trip, a sense of being in uncharted 
and therefore dangerous waters. We embarked in a launch 

176 




picturesque bead-b:;decked bcgobos of the davao country 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

when the tide was high and had no trouble in getting up to 
the village, but we were earnestly entreated by the officer in 
charge of the launch to hurry with our business in order that 
we might start back before the tide went out. He assured 
us that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to cross 
the bar at the mouth of the river at low tide. His entreaties 
were in vain. The Commissioners were engaged in inter- 
views with Surigao citizens which they could not or would 
not cut short, so the ladies and children, having seen every- 
thing and met everybody, went back to the landing and sat 
in the launch patiently waiting while the daylight slowly 
disappeared. The launch captain was visibly agitated, and 
told us time and again about what a hard time we were sure 
to have getting back to the Sumner. And he was quite 
right. 

The launch was not large enough to accommodate the 
entire party so it towed a cutter which also was fairly well 
loaded. When the men finally arrived, full of explanations 
and good-natured apologies, it was pitch dark, but, being 
optimists, we shoved off into the river, feeling sure that the 
fears of our commanding officer were groundless. 

After steaming merrily along for a few miles, becoming 
more and more confident all the time, we suddenly got a 
shaking bump and found ourselves fast in the mud. It 
didn't take so long, however, to get afloat again, and we 
were just congratulating ourselves that the captain's bug- 
bear of a sandbar was behind us when we felt a violent 
impact followed by a terrifying sensation as if the keel were 
grinding over rocks. 

The captain swore softly and said something about 
striking "the ruins of that old Spanish bridge," then hurried 
forward to see what damage had been done. The people 
in the cutter, riding the short waves in our wake, were thor- 
oughly alarmed and were clamouring to know what had hap- 
pened to us. We couldn't tell them, but it sounded very 

177 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

much as if we had torn the whole bottom out of the launch. 
The engine had stopped; it was inky dark; the children all 
began to cry; and, to add further discomfort to the situation, 
it began to rain in torrents. The launch swayed sickeningly 
this way and that, then the engine started again, whereupon 
came a most furious clatter aft. There is no denying that 
it made us blanch with fear, but it proved to be only a 
blade of the propeller which had been bent and was striking 
the boat with each revolution. 

Three times more we slid into the mud ; the last time we 
stuck and no effort that could be made would get us out, so 
we were forced to abandon the launch and wedge ourselves 
altogether into the little cutter. You may picture for your- 
self the scene of men, women and children, in the rain and 
with no light save the faint flicker of lanterns, dropping off 
a big launch into a small rowboat over an inky stream sup- 
posed to be filled with crocodiles. 

When we reached the mouth of the river the captain 
began to show signs of nervousness, though he had been 
entirely self-controlled throughout the worst of our troubles. 
We couldn't see where we were going, but we could dis- 
tinctly feel that the open bay lay not far ahead of us. 
What we wanted was to have the Sumner's searchlight 
turned on our path, but the only thing we had with us with 
which to convey this desire to the ship's officers were red 
rockets, — the last resort of the sailor in distress. There was 
nothing else to do; the launch captain began firing them off, 
and a weirder scene than was revealed by their momentary 
glare can hardly be imagined. They produced the desired 
effect, however, and in less than ten minutes a great shaft 
of light, straight from the bridge of the Sumner, was sweep- 
ing the banks of the river and bay shore and affording us 
just the kind of assistance we required. 

But that was not the end. Less than half-way to the 
Sumner we met a lifeboat, equipped with all the parapher- 

178 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

nalia for rescuing us from a watery grave, and manned by 
an excited crew in oilskins, who, under the sharp commands 
of an almost frantic officer, were pulling in mad haste for 
the river's mouth. When they saw us they lapsed into a 
state of utter disgust. They turned and rowed sadly back 
to the ship, and afterward I overheard them exchanging very 
definite opinions as to the possible future of a sailor who 
would burn red rockets when all he wanted was a search- 
light. 

After calling at Cagayan Misamis, Dapitan, Iloilo, San 
Jose Antique and Capiz, we made straight for Cebu. Cebu 
is, in rivalry with Iloilo and next to Manila, the most im- 
portant town in the Philippine Islands. It is a receiving 
station for exports from all parts of the southern islands and 
is altogether what is known as a "live" town. It is the 
capital of the province of the same name which consists of 
a single long island some two thousand square miles in area 
and with a population (at that time) of nearly seven hun- 
dred thousand. 

At Cebu we were rejoined by Chief Justice Arellano, who 
had left us sometime before to go back to Manila. We 
were greatly interested in his account of the effect of Agui- 
naldo's capture and subsequent treatment. The erstwhile 
insurgent leader was still in prison, but his prison was made 
an honourable abode where he was permitted to be with his 
family and to receive his friends. The mass of the people 
would not, for a long time, believe he really had been cap- 
tured. They thought the report was an American fabrica- 
tion to delude them and to destroy their faith in Aguinaldo's 
anting-anting, — or magic charm against defeat. The shat- 
tering of that faith gave vast impetus to the general peace 
movement and, though a few hundred rifles and several 
insurrecto officers were still unaccounted for, and though 
occasional outbreaks and the activities of marauding bands 
of outlaws continued for a considerable length of time, the 

179 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

actual organised insurrection had suffered a complete col- 
lapse. 

The Commission kept Cebu on tenterhooks for a time 
as to whether the condition of order in the province was such 
that they could go on with the establishment of government 
there, and it was interesting to watch the effect of this un- 
certainty. To be included in the general organisation 
became at once the warmly expressed wish of a majority of 
the people, and there was great excitement throughout the 
town. Eventually Justice Llorente, of the Supreme Court 
of Manila, a member of our party, and himself a Cebuano, 
was appointed Governor of the province under the simple 
American form, and because of his integrity and real patriot- 
ism, because of the high regard in which he was held by the 
people, and because of the enthusiasm and complete faith 
with which he entered upon his duties, it was hoped that he 
would be able soon to lead his province into the sensible 
paths marked out for it. 

With Cebu and the problems of Cebu behind us, we felt 
that our long trip was nearly finished. Bohol, Leyte, 
Samar, Albay, the Camarines and Sorsogon, each in its turn 
brought us nearer to our comfortable homes in Manila and 
to relaxation, for which we were beginning to long. 

Each district expected us to give them at least a day for 
business and an evening for festivity, but this was not 
always possible. At Sorsogon we found a veritable riot of 
decoration, with fine arches and many flags and every indi- 
cation that the town had spared no effort to make our visit 
there a memorable event. In the evening, beside the 
banquete and baile, there was to have been a torchlight pro- 
cession, with a triumphal car and a Filipino maiden as the 
Goddess of Liberty. It was a great pity that we couldn't 
stay, but we had to sail that afternoon for Boak, so the 
programme had to be advanced several hours. 

The extraordinary car, or float, which had undoubtedly 

180 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

cost weeks of skilled workmanship, came forth into the 
blistering sunlight bearing the pretty brown girl in tinsel 
and white muslin, her long, black hair almost wholly envel- 
oping her as she held aloft the nickering symbol of Enlight- 
enment. It was a Filipino adaptation of the"sacred torch" 
which we had ourselves been carrying throughout the 
islands, and I felt that its production was a fitting climax to 
our laborious progress. 

Two days later when we landed in Manila, after organ- 
ising Marinduque and Batangas, we were able to look back 
upon a singular experience, an expedition perhaps unique 
in history, with which was ushered in a new era, not to say a 
new national existence, for the people of the Philippine 
Islands. 



181 



CHAPTER IX 

THE WILD MEN'S COUNTRY 

I should like to say here, by way of explanation, which 
may or may not be necessary, that I am not trying in this 
narrative to pose as a woman endowed with an especial com- 
prehension of such problems of state as men alone have 
been trained to deal with. I confess only to a lively interest 
in my husband's work which I experienced from the begin- 
ning of our association and which nothing in our long life 
together, neither monotony, nor illness, nor misfortune, has 
served to lessen; and it would be practically impossible for 
me to write a record of memories in which he did not figure 
very largely. 

In the settlement of American control in the Philippine 
Islands Mr. Taft, first as President of the first legislative 
Commission and, later, as Civil Governor, had to contend 
with a varied and complex resistance which it would be 
difficult for one not experienced in politics to comprehend. 
If it had been Filipino resistance only it would have been 
fairly easy to overcome, but Filipino resistance was indi- 
rectly sanctioned and directly assisted by a strong oppo- 
sition in the United States to what seemed to us who were 
on the ground to be the only sensible and really patriotic 
measures possible under the circumstances. 

For reasons which I have tried to convey, as clearly as I 
am able, my husband was not in favour of a continuation of 
military rule in the Islands beyond the time when military 
activity was imperative, nor was he in favour of abandoning 
a problem which grew daily more difficult and more compli- 
cated. So he and his colleagues persisted in the tremendous 
task of settling a whole people under a sane and sensible 
form of government. 

The trip through the southern islands was particularly 

182 







PHILIPPINE NON-CHRISTIANS. A BONTOC IGORROTE < TOP, LEFT,) 
A MORO AND TWO KALINGA CHIEFS {WITH SHIELDS) 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

valuable to them in that it gave them first-hand, working 
knowledge of existing conditions in every province. They 
immediately set about revising their original Provincial 
code in accordance with requirements which they were able 
to discover only through personal investigation, and at the 
same time they took up the grave business of establishing a 
sound judiciary. 

There was always something new to be talked over at our 
family table, or during the long evening hours on the 
verandah overlooking the Bay and, in spite of the fact that 
much of our "news" presented itself in the form of fresh 
delays and exasperating difficulties, life was very entertain- 
ing. 

Not long after we returned from our trip through the 
South Mrs. J. Franklin Bell invited my sister Maria and me 
to go with her on an expedition, on which she expected to 
accompany her husband, through the mountains of northern 
Luzon which are inhabited by non-Christian tribes only. 
General Bell was commander of troops in the North and 
this was to be an inspection trip. It meant several 
weeks on horseback, over dangerous trails where, in parts at 
least, no white woman had ever been, but we were most 
anxious to go. The trouble was that I had never ridden in 
my life, so I looked with considerable trepidation to the 
prospect of a long and necessarily intimate association with 
a horse. I brought the proposition up in family council and 
my husband advised me, by all means, to go. I should 
probably have gone without this advice, but it was comfort- 
ing to have it because if anything happened I could "blame 
it all on him." In fact, I began to do this even before I left. 
When my courage dwindled a little I promptly told him 
that it was all his fault; that if he hadn't urged me to go I 
never should have thought of such a thing; but that as long 
as I had promised I should have to see the adventure through, 
though I knew I should never survive it. He only laughed 

183 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and assured me that we would have a glorious time and that 
the trip would do us "all the good in the world." 

Major Stevens, who expected to accompany us, brought 
me an American horse, of formidable dimensions, and volun- 
teered to superintend my first encounter with him. He was 
as gentle as a lamb. I wouldn't let him go faster than a 
walk the first evening and the fact that I was pretty stiff at 
the end of my ride made me almost hopeless. The second 
evening I let him out a little, and began, much to my sur- 
prise to enjoy the exhilaration of the exercise. By the third 
evening I had progressed so far that I decided for myself 
that the poor old beast had no speed in him at all. 

We took a Spanish steamer, the Salvadora, from Manila 
up to Vigan, where General Bell was stationed, and, though 
I am glad to have had the experience, I shouldn't care to 
repeat it. When we got on board we were shown at once 
to a most promising-looking stateroom, quite spacious, and 
with four berths in it. The trip to Vigan was to take from 
Thursday to Saturday and we were glad to note that we 
were going to be quite comfortable. But our self -congratu- 
lations came to a sudden end. Upon inspection we found 
the room was indescribably dirty, the beds were without 
sheets, the pillows were like rocks, there were insects galore, 
and the thermometer stood at 1 10 degrees. Ventilation was 
out of the question because the room opened into a sort of 
public saloon where innumerable Filipinos, in various states 
of undress, slept, stretched out on the floor, on the tables, 
on chairs, on anything that could serve as a resting place. 
The second night I got the Captain's permission to sleep on 
the bridge, since the decks, too, were covered with a miscel- 
laneous crowd and were rendered additionally uncomfort- 
able by odoriferous strings of cabbages and other vegetables 
which hung from the awnings. 

The food on the ship was all Spanish ; indeed, I might say, 
terribly Spanish; still, I was rather used to it and didn't 

184 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

mind much as long as I could get into a wind-swept corner 
of the deck to eat it. But there were some American 
women on board who had just come out from the United 
States and they complained violently. 

We were put ashore early Saturday morning; much 
earlier, in fact than we had been expected to arrive. We 
had to drive three miles before we reached the Bells' house, 
and when we did get there we were delighted to find that 
they were just having breakfast. They were eating real, 
human food and, however heroically we had adapted our- 
selves to the peculiarities of Spanish cookery, there was 
nothing we stood so much in need of. They were a most 
homelike and comfortable-looking party. Besides the Gen- 
eral and Mrs. Bell there were two young officers, Mr. Wil- 
cox and Mr. Nolan, and a young lady whose name was Miss 
Bubb, a daughter of General Bubb, and whose general 
characteristics had won for her the nickname of "Bubbles." 

The first thing we learned was that Mrs. Bell would, 
after all, be unable to go with us on the trip through the 
mountains. She was not at all well and the doctor had for- 
bidden it. We were greatly disappointed. Mrs. Bell is so 
jolly and full of fun that she is an addition to any party, 
and on such an expedition as we were contemplating we were 
sure to miss her tremendously. But, the party was all 
made up. General Bell was to take command; "Bubbles" 
was going; then, in addition to my sister and me, there were 
Major Rice, Major Stevens, Captain Shearer and Captain 
Haight — eight in all. 

First let me say that the northern part of the island of 
Luzon bears just about as much resemblance to the rest of 
the archipelago as the Alps bear to the plains of Nebraska. 
We began to notice the difference even at Vigan, though 
Vigan is at sea-level and is as hot as a sea-level town is 
supposed to be in that latitude. But it feels and looks like 
a little foreign city ; foreign, that is, to the Philippines. Its 

185 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

houses are well built of ancient-looking stone, with heavy 
red-tiled roofs ; its streets are narrow and crooked and it has 
a fine plaza filled with fire-trees which, when I saw them 
first, were in full bloom. There is no way to describe the 
magnificence of a grove or avenue of fire-trees. They make 
a veritable cloud of flame which, seen against a background 
of blue hills, or overhanging the mouldy, old-world grace 
of a Spanish church and convent, fairly "takes one's breath." 
The world-famed cherry trees of Japan, wonderful as they 
are, seem pale and soulless in comparison. I wonder the 
Spaniards didn't line the streets of Manila with fire-trees 
and make for themselves the reputation of having created 
the most amazing city in the world. 

While we were at Vigan, and before starting on the long 
trip, we made an excursion to Bangued, in the province of 
Abra. Mrs. Bell went with us. This town, a short time 
before, could be reached only by raft up the Abra River, no 
launch ever having been built that could go through the 
rapids, but the establishment of an Army post made neces- 
sary the building of a piece of road which shortened the 
journey at the Bangued end. The first part of the trip, 
however, had still to be made by water and all the supplies 
for the soldiers were sent up on a fleet of twenty or more 
rafts which started out together every morning. When 
there was a breeze each of them would run up a sail of 
bright, striped Igorote cloth. 

We had a grand raft with a bamboo awning. And there 
were comfortable rattan chairs, to say nothing of a picnic 
luncheon and a carefully wrapped and jealously guarded 
box of ice. Ice was the rarest of all luxuries in the pro- 
vincial towns of the Philippines in those days. 

We moved very slowly against the current of the swift- 
flowing river, but we had no desire to hurry. It was really 
enchanting. From narrow, pebbly beaches on either bank 
rose rugged cliffs which seemed to tower mountain high, 

186 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

throwing deep shadows into the canyon and leaving only a 
narrow ribbon of sky above us. And these cliffs were hung 
with a tangled undergrowth through which small, white 
waterfalls rushed and rustled. Where the river broadened, 
here and there, we came upon groups of bright-clad natives 
who regarded us with great curiosity, and at one place we 
saw half a dozen women starting up the steep bank with 
graceful brown water-jars balanced on their heads. Each 
one was carrying at least six, one on top of another, and all 
of them full. How they managed it was beyond compre- 
hension. We watched them until they were out of sight 
and not one of them ever raised a hand to her head. As a 
matter of fact, they were nonchalantly smoking and chat- 
tering away as if they were quite unconscious of their bur- 
dens, though the slightest unrhythmical motion would have 
spelt disaster for them all. 

At eleven o'clock we reached the village where the road 
begins and the whole population gathered around in curious 
groups and gazed at us. White women were still a novelty 
in that region and I'm sure we looked much more peculiar to 
them than they looked to us. There were crowds of school 
children from the new American school, and one very much 
embarrassed little girl, who had had her English book only 
about four months, read some English for me very nicely. 
Likely as not that same little girl has by this time won a 
normal school certificate and is herself teaching English in 
an "American" school. Such is the history of many of her 
generation. 

When we reached Bangued the young men in the com- 
mand of Major Bowen, who was our host, gave up their 
house to the ladies, and we had three comfortable beds, with 
mosquito nets, in a large, airy room. It was a fine after- 
noon for a siesta because it rained in torrents for the rest of 
the day and the patter of rain on nipa thatch is a soothing 
sound. The young men's house was just across from the 

187 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Major's and by evening the street was such a river that we 
had to be carried over for dinner. But nobody minded; 
and we enjoyed even the music of the native band which 
stationed itself down under our windows and enlivened the 
occasion with a wonderful medley of sound. When the 
bandmen came upstairs for refreshments Mrs. Bell and two 
of the young officers ran down and tried their powers on 
the instruments, and I can only say that the result was joyful 
pandemonium. 

The next morning we left our hospitable hosts and, 
escorted by Lieutenant Ingram, made the return trip all the 
way down the river. The water was high and, though it 
had taken us an interminable time to go up, it took only 
three hours and a half to go down; and some of the rapids 
were most exciting. We took our lunch basket and chairs 
ashore on a lovely, green, shaded knoll and dallied there 
for several hours. Only a month before nobody, who was 
not compelled to, ever went over this route on account of the 
danger of being shot, but the last of the Abra insurgents 
had surrendered, and so safe did we feel that we were ab- 
solutely unarmed. 

If I should try to write a detailed account of this expedi- 
tion I am afraid I could not avoid conveying the idea that we 
encountered nothing but a continuous downpour. It was the 
"rainy season" and we were wet most of the time, but Mr. 
Taf t was right when he promised that we would have a glori- 
ous time and that the trip would do us a "world of good." 
Down in the heat and the political turmoil of Manila I was 
taking things much too seriously, while up in the far-away 
north there was nothing to do but dismiss all worry and ac- 
cept things as they came along. After we left Vigan on the 
long trail the only way we could get even a letter through 
was by messenger who had to travel hundreds of miles 
through a most difficult country. So I enjoyed myself 
thoroughly, as did every one else in the party, hardships and 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

physical discomforts seeming only to add to our gaiety. 

At first I thought that my riding lessons in Manila were 
not going to do me much good. We had had a most luxu- 
riously easy time in the beginning. We left General Bell's 
house in an Army ambulance, instead of on horses, for our 
first day's journey on the ''long trail." General Bell was in 
command and he knew what he was doing. All he had to 
do was to issue orders; we obeyed. That is what it is 
to go camping with a soldier. One learns what discipline 
means. 

We were permitted to take with us only such things as 
were absolutely necessary. Even then, the "absolute neces- 
sities" which we eventually discarded as useless impedimenta 
would have made a long list. Everything was done up in 
waterproof bundles and when we started out these were 
stuffed so full that they would hardly fasten, but they grew 
slimmer as time went on. The most important articles, we 
found, were our slickers and wraps. It was wet and cold 
and we had to have them, but all our toilet appurtenances 
together went easily into Miss Bubb's saddle-bags. 

The first day we forded a river — the same river — several 
times, and, finally, we had to cross it on a raft which was so 
small that it could carry only one thing, or one person at a 
time. My sister, Miss Bubo and I sat on the bank above 
the ford for more than two hours waiting for all our things 
to get across. While we waited many natives came along 
driving carabaos, and it was amusing to see the two-wheeled, 
awkward carts hustled onto the swaying raft — one thing 
after another falling into the river — while each poor old 
carabao was forced to swim, dragged along by his master 
who held fast to a string attached to a ring in the animal's 
nose. If I had been able to speak the dialect I would have 
said: "Your friend the Carabao, being a water-buffalo, 
could probably swim the river much more easily without 
your assistance." I have had to look on and suffer at many 

189 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

things in the Philippine Islands merely because I was unable 
to speak a dozen-odd different dialects. In the provinces 
Spanish was seldom of any use because the common tao 
knows little or nothing of it, and it is with the common tao 
that one wishes there to communicate. 

On our first day's journey we did thirty-seven miles in a 
jolting Army wagon, but the air was so invigorating, and 
we were having such a good time, that we were not ex- 
hausted. We didn't even murmur when we were told to be 
ready to start at four the next morning. 

This was at Candon and we were joined there by Major 
Stevens, which made our party complete. The next even- 
ing, at Concepcion, we camped in a lovely, new nipa-thatched 
house which had been built by a man who was known gener- 
ally as "Windy" Wilson, an Army captain. We were ex- 
tremely thankful for the shelter, because it was raining as 
it can rain only in northern Luzon and we had every reason 
to believe that this would be the last house we would be per- 
mitted to occupy for many a day. We were striking straight 
into the mountains and our shelter-to-be was a small field 
tent slung on the cargo saddle of a commissary mule. 

Captain Wilson's house was quite spacious. It had two 
rooms; one small and one large one. The ladies slept in 
the smaller room on Army cots, while the four stalwart 
officers of our military escort stretched themselves out on 
blankets and slickers on the split bamboo floor of the larger 
room. The walls and partitions were of woven nipa palm 
leaves, known locally as suali, while the two windows were 
made of braided bamboo and were set in grooves so, when 
we wanted to open them, all we had to do was to give them a 
gentle shove. There were no "trappings of civilisation," 
but we managed to be perfectly comfortable. 

The next day, before the sun was very high, we found our- 
selves in the midst of mountain-tops, on a trail which rose in 
great upward sweeps around the densely wooded slopes, to 

190 



»pr 








AX IGORROTE HEAD DANCE, AND A COMPANY OF CARGODORES WITH 
THEIR DOGS, WHICH ARE TO BE KILLED FOR FOOD 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

an altitude of 5600 feet. By this time we were all on horse- 
back with eight Igorrote boys behind us carrying a sedan 
chair to be used in case of accident or a dangerous washout 
on the trail. I wish I could describe the magnificence of the 
scene which lay all about us when we reached that amazing 
summit. General Bell, who had been all through the 
Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone, and the Yosemite Val- 
ley, said there was nothing that he had ever seen which 
could compare with it. And its grandeur is accentuated by 
vivid colouring. The Igorrotes have, for hundreds of years, 
been building extraordinary rice-terraces and these have 
gradually climbed the mountains until, in some places, only 
the rugged crests are left uncultivated. The terraces are as 
symmetrical as honeycomb and are built in solid walls of 
finely laid masonry out of which grow ferns and tangled 
vines. The brilliant colour of the young rice fairly glows 
against the dark greens of pine trees, of spreading mangoes, 
and of tropic forest giants whose names I do not know. 
And wherever one looks there are peaks, jagged sunlit peaks 
which rise from sombre valleys upward into a strange light 
whose every ray seems to shine in its own individual hue. 
In the far distance we could see the ocean, with white 
breakers dashing against the cliffs; while in the valley below 
the Santa Cruz River, though actually foaming and dashing 
through its winding, rocky bed, seemed to us to be lying still, 
without motion of any kind, or sound. 

In my diary, which I kept on that trip, I find that at each 
stopping place I have solemnly set down the observation 
that: "the scenery to-day was the finest we have yet found" ; 
and when we reached Sagada I took the trouble to record 
for my own future reference that: "I shall not rest until 
Will has seen it." He never has. 

At Sagada we found ourselves quite far up in the Igorrote 
country, where Filipinos as a rule, do not go. We had 
come from Cervantes over a trail where the horses cautiously 

191 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

kept to the inside, and where we were told to let go of our 
inner stirrups so, in case a horse went over the edge of the 
precipice its rider would have a chance of falling clear on 
the terra-firma side instead of being hurled out into open 
space. There are a great many people who have to be taken 
over such trails blind-folded, but there were no dizzy-heads 
among us, and as each turn of the way revealed to us dif- 
ferent and more wonderful views, we filled the day with ex- 
clamation points. 

Here and there we met bands of Igorrotes, marching "In- 
dian hie," carrying great bundles of rice up short-cut moun- 
tain trails, which wound through the rice terraces and were 
"as steep as the side of a house." All the men had long, 
murderous-looking spears, while the women were evidently 
the burden-bearers. Along the main trail we came, now and 
then, upon a company of men leading home a whimpering 
and pitiful little pack of very thin dogs. We knew these 
were to be killed and eaten and, naturally, the thought was 
sickening, but in the Igorrote country the dog-loving white 
man has to get used to this. Some day, perhaps, it will be 
different, but not until herds and flocks have been substi- 
tuted and entirely new ideas have patiently been instilled 
into the minds of these people. For the time being dog 
flesh is their most cherished article of diet. 

I wish it were known just where these curious wild tribes 
came from; just what their race history is. They are as 
unlike Filipinos as American Indians are unlike English- 
men. They have but one thing in common with the Fili- 
pinos, and that is their colour, which is a soft, dark brown. 
There is hardly an American who has ever lived among them 
for any length of time who has not a real admiration and 
affection for them and yet, to all intents and purposes, they 
are naked savages. They are most amenable to civilis- 
ing influences. They take to education eagerly. They are, 
in their physical development, beautiful to look upon — when 

192 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

they are cleaned up — perfectly formed, straight and mus- 
cular, with features strongly marked and with wide, clear 
eyes which inspire confidence. They are entirely fearless; 
and they are loyal to the "last ditch." Also, it is these 
same incomprehensible "naked savages" who have built the 
thousands of acres of rice terraces which are a marvel and a 
mystery to every irrigation expert or technical engineer who 
has ever seen them. 

Bontoc, which we reached after a day's weary, wet riding 
over slippery trails from Sagada, is the capital of what is now 
known as the Mountain province. For the first time in their 
known history the Igorrotes are united under one central 
government, each tribe having its lieutenant governor — an 
American always. There are the Benguets, the Bontocs, the 
Ifugaos, the Ilongots, the Kalingas and others, and they 
have been engaged in inter-tribal warfare since time began, 
their chief pleasure being derived from the taking of each 
other's heads. When I went into the Igorrote country head- 
hunting was still in full force and houses were still decorated 
with festoons of human skulls, while no man ever ventured 
forth, even to his rice-fields, without his spear and shield and 
head-axe. They all carry spears even yet, but head-hunt- 
ing, having been made by the American government a capi- 
tal offence, is not so popular. Mr. Dean C. Worcester, as 
Secretary of the Interior, in direct charge of all wild tribes, 
actually succeeded in introducing substitutes for the sport in 
the form of baseball and other inter-tribal athletic contests 
and peaceful, though rough and strenuous pastimes. For 
fourteen years Mr. Worcester was to these children of the 
hills a most highly respected Apo-apo, — chief of chiefs. 

Miss Bubb, my sister Maria and I were the first white 
women who ever set foot in Bontoc and to say that we created 
a sensation is to describe our reception too mildly. We 
were the guests of three American miners who had a com- 
fortable house and who, having lived among the Igorrotes 

193 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

for a long time — one of them for more than a year without 
visiting civilisation — could give us much interesting first- 
hand information. The people gathered around us in 
hordes, but they kept at a respectful, not to say a reverential, 
distance. I think they were afraid of us; especially the 
women, not one of whom would let us look at her baby. 
But we were used to that. Many Christian Filipinos believe 
firmly in the "evil eye." There was one little dwarf who 
was bolder than the rest and who followed us everywhere 
we went. He was like a little, brown, toy-child, beautifully 
formed, and looking not more than one year old, but we were 
told that he was at least fourteen. 

Everybody wanted to give us things. The evening I 
arrived I received a present from one of the headmen, of 
three live chickens, and the next day, as we were picking 
our way through the native village, another man ran after 
me and, very graciously and gracefully, presented me with 
two fresh eggs. We learned to say "mapud" which means 
"good," and, in connection with smiles and gestures, found 
it served us famously for all purposes of social intercourse. 

Bontoc is in a deep valley, on the bank of a wide, swift 
river and surrounded by close sheltering hills, so it is not as 
cold as it is in Sagada and some other places we visited; 
but it is cold enough, and I failed to understand how the 
natives could live in a state of almost complete nakedness. 
But they do and, in fact, all these people do, even in the 
coldest regions. The Bontoc Igorrote wears a very bright- 
coloured clout called a "G-string" with a heavy, brass chain 
around his waist, while his long, black hair is tucked into a 
little, flat, straw hat which is fastened, in some mysterious 
way, on the back of his head. They nearly all wear heavy, 
brass earrings which make their ears unsightly, and the Bon- 
toc "dandy" usually has a long, black, homemade and half- 
smoked cigar tucked behind one ear for all the world like 
the pencil of an absentminded bookkeeper. 

194 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

We had canyaos, or bonfires with "head-dances," and all 
the strange varieties of entertainment provided by the vil- 
lage headmen. The musical instrument of the Igorrote is 
called a ganza, which is a round brass gong with a handle 
made of a human jaw-bone, upon which the "musician" 
beats a rhythmical measure with a soft, padded mallet as he 
whirls and twists in his fantastic dance. These ganzas — 
some of them very old, — are tribal rather than individual 
property and it is very difficult to induce their owners to 
part with them. Their value is computed in carabaos in- 
stead of in rice, or in dollars and cents. If you should ask 
an Igorrote how much he would take for his ganza, espe- 
cially if it were one associated with tribal history, he would 
very likely look smilingly solemn and say: "One hundred 
carabao," or any other prohibitive number that might hap- 
pen to occur to him. This is a form of racial pride and de- 
serves respect. 

We went from Bontoc back through Sagada to Cervantes, 
and then started down the long, narrow trail straight through 
the mountains to Baguio. At Cervantes we received our 
first messages from Manila and, among other things, was an 
order to Major Stevens to report for duty. His going gave 
us an opportunity to send letters down and report ourselves 
alive and not at all anxious to get home, but we didn't like 
losing the Major. We had, by this time, become a very 
well-acquainted, well-disciplined and congenial party and 
we disliked seeing the beginning of the end of our expedi- 
tion. "General Bell directed everything and joined in our 
sports and foolishness whenever he could do so without en- 
dangering the dignity of the "corps," but, while he was kind- 
ness itself, he was so strict with the young officers that we 
had sometimes to steal our opportunities for relaxation. 

A few hours' riding south from Cervantes are some famous 
copper mines which were owned by a Spanish syndicate. 
We turned off in their direction and came into a most ex- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

traordinary country. The whole face of the landscape 
looks like corroded copper, and the great, scarred gulches 
where the ore has been taken out make one think of chaos, 
or dreams of an inferno. I don't know how to express an 
idea of bigness in a mere touch of description as I pass on 
through the story of this trip, but I want to convey an im- 
pression of overwhelming size in everything. It is a great, 
wild world where one sees miles in every direction and where 
nature seems to have done everything on a gigantic scale. 

A mile or so beyond the copper mines we came upon a 
veritable mountain paradise, — from our point of view, at 
least. It was the home of Don Jose Mills, a Spaniard who, 
for some unknown reason, had banished himself to this out- 
of-the-world spot and, with what labour and pains can only 
be imagined, had made for himself a civilised abode. I 
was shown to a room all by myself, which had in it a real 
bed with springs and a mattress. It was the first one I had 
seen for I don't know how long. I regarded it with great 
curiosity at first, then I sat down on it most respectfully. 
I lay down and stretched myself out; then I pulled up a 
soft blanket and, though it was only midday, nothing short 
of the gravest emergency could have induced me to move. 
The emergency presented itself, finally, in the form of lunch- 
eon and I discovered that Don Jose had returned hurriedly 
from Candon in order to entertain us and that he had brought 
with him everything in the form of food and liquid refresh- 
ments that he could find. The result was a triumph, and 
we decided that we should like to remain under his hospi- 
table roof indefinitely. 

That night, amid much merriment, we initiated our host 
kito the mysteries and secrets of a little society we had 
formed and which we called the Earring Club. Our in- 
signia was a big, brass Igorrote earring, and we had signs 
and pass- words, to say nothing of a song which nobody but 
ourselves could sing. We appropriated die Cavalry tune 

196 








Z < 

■C ~ 

< C/3 Cfl 

- y os 

^ «f ~ 






RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of "For Seven Long Years I've Courted Nancy," but the 
words were our own and it was not difficult to supply a new 
verse to fit each incident or occasion as it came along. The 
song began: 

For twelve long days we've hiked through mountains, 

Heigh ho! Cross roaring rivers! 
For twelve long days we've hiked through mountains, 

Ha! Ha! While on our way through wild Lepanto! 

Up at Sagada we came upon the only bed of mint that 
any of us had ever seen in the Philippines, and as General 
Bell had almost an inspired knowledge as to what mint was 
originally intended for, this gave us material for three new 
verses : 

One rainy day we reached Sagada, 

Heigh ho ! Among the rice fields ! 
One rainy day we reached Sagada, 

Ha! Ha! As we toiled along o'er the hills of Bontoc! 

A place most sweet with fragrant mint-beds, 

Heigh ho! How did it get there? 
A place most sweet with fragrant mint-beds, 

Ha! Ha! 'Way high up in the hills of Bontoc! 

We didn't do a thing but make a julep, 

Heigh ho ! Without the cracked ice ! 
We didn't do a thing but make a julep, 

Ha! Ha! With the mint we found in the hills of Bontoc! 

It was a free-for-all composition contest; anybody was 
likely to produce a new verse, or even a whole new song with 
a different tune, at any moment, and we shortened many a 
long mile with such nonsense. 

At Don Jose's we not only sang all our songs for the bene- 
fit of our host, but one of our number produced a harmon- 
ica, on which he played very well indeed, and we had an 
impromptu baile. Then we "dropped the handkerchief," 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"followed the leader," gave some original renderings of 
German Grand Opera, played Puss-in-the-corner, and fin- 
ished the evening with our feet on a fender before a great, 
open fire, recounting, with much appreciated embellishments, 
our interesting experiences. 

We knew we should not find any place as delightful as 
Don Jose's again, — not even in Manila, because Manila 
would be hot, — so it was with great reluctance that we 
obeyed orders to be ready to leave the next morning at six. 
This meant getting out of our comfortable, civilised beds at 
five o'clock, while the stars would still be out, and when 
the ashes of our evening's fire would be cold and grey on the 
hearth. It was a cheerless thought, but we had to "get to 
Loo" said General Bell. 

It was raining — of course — and there was not much 
scenery visible except when the clouds would float upward, 
now and then, like veils lifted off grand panoramas, but 
by this time we had ceased to consider the weather. When 
we got to Loo we found the "town" consisted of just two 
empty log huts, one with a plaited reed floor, the other with 
no floor at all, and neither of them with any sort of partition. 
We stretched a rope across the middle of the better one, hung 
Igorrote blankets on it by way of a screen, and prepared to 
make ourselves comfortable on the, fortunately flexible, 
floor; ladies on one side, gentlemen on the other. But along 
late in the afternoon a pack train of mules and Igorrotes and 
orderlies arrived from the south bringing us the astonishing 
news that the Commissioners were only a few miles behind 
and expected to camp that night at Loo! 

The rain had settled down into a dreary, soaking patter; 
it was cold; we were all wet; there was no place for a fire; 
and, altogether, we were fairly uncomfortable. 

The Commissioners, Mr. Worcester and Mr. Moses, with 
their private secretaries and a doctor — five in all — came 
along about an hour behind their pack train. They 

198 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

straggled in one by one, very grumpy, and we decided right 
away that they had not been taught, as we had been, to 
make the best of everything and to cultivate sociability on 
the trail. They had had a much more difficult day's riding 
than we because the trail up is much harder than the trail 
down, but we were pretty certain, on the whole, that we were 
much the better managed party. 

With more Igorrote blankets we arranged another parti- 
tion in the hut to make room for them, then we gave them a 
good hot dinner — cooked in the tent which had been put up 
for kitchen purposes — and immediately a social thaw set in. 
We got all the news from Manila that we were so anxious 
for, and all the latest gossip. The news was disquieting. 
A cablegram had come announcing that the Supreme Court 
had decided there should be no duties in Porto Rico against 
United States imports, and instructing the Commission to 
suspend all legislation in the Philippine Islands until fur- 
ther notice. This might mean anything, but whatever else 
it meant it certainly meant renewed uncertainty and the pos- 
sibility that no change in the government would be made 
until after Congress met. 

The politics of the situation were extremely complicated 
and seemed to revolve around a question which, because of a 
rather pugnacious manner of expressing it, had become a 
popular clamour. The question was: "Does the Consti- 
tution follow the Flag*?" In other words, really, could 
duties be collected on imports from one American port to 
another? In any case, the question in respect to us was 
one for Congress to answer and it seemed to me we were fac- 
ing another long period of uneasiness and delay. 

We knew the entire Commission had expected to make a 
trip in June for the purpose of organising the Christian prov- 
inces in the far north beyond the Mountain Province, but 
they were halted by the order to suspend definite activities, 
and Commissioners Worcester and Moses had taken advan- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

tage of the "breathing spell" to run up into the mountains 
and inspect proposed routes for roads and railways. That 
is how we happened to encounter them at Loo. We shared 
their opinion that one of the greatest things that could be 
done for the country was to make the mountains of central 
Luzon, with their glorious climate, easily accessible. The 
trails as we found them were mere paths worn by the feet 
of Igorrotes and, besides being very narrow, were at such 
grades as to make them in many places all but impassable. 
The party, highly representative of American authority in 
the Islands, as it was, sat around on the bamboo floor, hud- 
dled up in blankets, and talked long into the night about 
hopes and fears and governmental problems of great diffi- 
culty and importance. 

We left Loo at six o'clock in the morning and after eight 
straight hours of the hardest work we had yet been called 
upon to do, we arrived at Cabayan. According to my own 
diary: "I was completely tired. The greater part of the 
way we rode through beautiful pine forests, but up and 
down hills as steep as the side of a house; across rivers, and 
up a waterfall." This sounds like pretty heavy going, but 
my account of it written at the time was, I am sure, only 
slightly exaggerated. I remember distinctly that from Loo 
to Baguio, five full days, we walked a great part of the way ; 
and not only did we walk, but we rendered necessary assist- 
ance to our horses which, giving out one by one, had to be 
dragged up the steep grades and "eased" down the opposite 
sides in a way that would have been highly ludicrous had 
we been engaged in anything but a very serious business. 
Only the steady old mules plodded along "without a word," 
and found their own way in safety around the dangerous 
turns. 

After leaving Bontoc we travelled down through Nueva 
Viscaya and into Benguet, the southermost division of the 
Mountain province. At Cabayan we had for camping quar- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ters a large presidencia and schoolhouse combined, while a 
tent was put up and rudely equipped for bathing purposes. 
This was luxury indeed, and we began to think that we had 
left all hardship behind us ; but the next night, after a seven 
hours' "hike" over a terrible trail, we found shelter in a 
miserable hut with only one room which we all had to oc- 
cupy, with Igorrote blankets for partitions. 

The Igorrotes grew less and less interesting as we went 
along and displayed few evidences of the industry and thrift 
which characterise the more northern tribes. The moun- 
tains are higher and the scenes are broader and more wonder- 
ful at the southern end of the range, but the only cultivation 
we came upon was in the villages and along the banks of the 
little rushing streams. It was evident that we were ap- 
proaching "civilisation." Here and there we went through 
small groves of coffee trees, beautiful in a wealth of snow- 
white blossoms, but evidently deserted, and wretchedly 
ragged and unkempt. 

Baguio, now the summer capital of the Philippine Islands, 
the "Philippine Simla," as it is so often called, lies at the 
top of what has become justly celebrated as "the magnifi- 
cent Benguet Road," the building of which has been the sub- 
ject of more controversy than almost any other one thing 
that American authority and enterprise has accomplished in 
the Islands. The Benguet Road when I first saw it was 
known as "Mead's Trail," so named in honour of the engi- 
neer who made the original survey for it, and in some places 
it was nothing more than a thin line drawn against perpen- 
dicular cliffs to indicate where cutting was to be done. 

Let somebody else argue the question as to whether or 
not this road has justified the faith of the men who built it. 
My husband and his colleagues were responsible for the be- 
ginning of it and Mr. Taft authorised the payment of the 
large sums of money which went into it, but he does not in 
the least object to honest criticism of the project. His only 

201 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

question is: "How else could we have accomplished what 
we did 4 ?" For which there is no satisfactory answer. I 
have ridden over it since it was completed and, in common 
with a majority of those who have enjoyed this privilege, I 
am strongly prejudiced in its favour. There are few, if any 
roads in the world more spectacular, or which represent a 
greater triumph of engineering skill. Fairly hewn out of 
the almost solid, but too crumbling, walls of the Bued River 
Canyon, it winds for about seventeen miles through con- 
stantly changing scenes of extraordinary grandeur, then it 
strikes the foothills of the mountains and rises in a succes- 
sion of splendid upward sweeps to an altitude of more than 
five thousand feet in less than six miles. 

The Benguet Road was originally a railway project and 
was to have been built by the British company which owns 
the Manila and Dagupan Railway. But this syndicate 
wanted a perpetual grant and a guarantee from the govern- 
ment which could not then be given. It was necessary, in 
any case, to build a wagon-road before railway construction 
could be started and Captain Mead, who was sent out at the 
head of a surveying party, reported that such a road would 
cost at least $50,000, or $75,000. The Commission appro- 
priated the $50,000 and issued orders to have the work be- 
gun, fully expecting to have to add another $25,000 be- 
fore the road was finished. Nobody knows what character 
of road Captain Mead had in mind when he made his esti- 
mate, but it transpired that nothing short of first-class con- 
struction would last through even one heavy rain. Besides, 
the Bued River Canyon had to be spanned six or eight times 
with tremendous suspension bridges, and before the project 
was completed an unwilling government had spent something 
like $2,500,000 on it. This was spread over a period of 
years, of course, and much of it went for necessary improve- 
ments or for the replacement of storm-wrecked bridges and 

202 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

graded sections, but its enemies like to refer to it as our two 
and a half million dollar road. 

The Manila and Dagupan Railway company extended its 
road up to the point where the Benguet Road begins and 
thus a way was opened into the only region in the Philip- 
pines where one may find really invigorating air. And 
while the road was building Baguio development began. A 
United States Army Camp was established on a ridge over- 
looking a wide range of pine-covered hills, and a hospital 
was erected for the accommodation of invalid soldiers who, 
before these facilities for taking care of them were provided, 
had always, at great expense to the government, to be sent 
back to the United States. A civil hospital and tuberculosis 
camp were opened; good hotels under private ownership 
soon took the place of field tents and rough board shacks; 
markets and stores were started, bringing in supplies in 
wholesale lots, and fair-sized buildings soon began to go up 
in a substantial business section; people began to build 
houses as rapidly as builders could be found to do the work; 
churches and schools began to appear where nothing was be- 
fore; a summer camp for the recuperation of thousands of 
public-school teachers was started in a high valley carpeted 
with pine-needles, and lecture courses for vacation instruc- 
tion were instituted; a country club was organised with golf 
links, a baseball diamond, polo grounds, tennis courts and 
everything that goes to make a country club successful. The 
plan of the city was drawn by Architect Burnham of Chi- 
cago, who visited Benguet for the purpose, and a great cen- 
tral plaza was provided with artistic, but inexpensive build- 
ings for the accommodation of the two branches of the gov- 
ernment. Cottages in rows went up almost overnight; rich 
Filipinos and a few Americans built fine homes; beautifully 
metalled drives began to wind in and out and over and 
around the hills, and a high-class government automobile 

203 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

'bus line was put on the Benguet Road which is the delight 
of every American or other foreigner in the Islands, as well 
as of many hundreds of Filipinos who annually take advan- 
tage of this wholly novel opportunity to reach a salubrious 
climate in their own land, and by a route which in any 
European country would attract scores of thrill-seeking tour- 
ists. 

And so the Philippine Simla was begun. Its friends, or, 
in other words, most people have dreams of a great future 
for it when it shall be a thriving, prosperous city and a health 
resort for everybody "east of Suez" who needs to seek near 
by a temperate and invigourating climate. 

It is six years since I saw Baguio, for I visited it the last 
time in 1907, but even then I could not believe that it was 
built on the ground that I had ridden over and found prac- 
tically uninhabited only six years before. At that time a 
provincial government had been organised, and an American, 
Mr. Phelps Whitmarsh, who was a writer and had lived 
among the Igorrotes a long time, was appointed governor. 
But he was governor of a wild-tribe province which did not 
then boast any greater signs of civilisation than winding 
foot trails and a few groups of low-thatched huts which 
were known as towns. 

We rode in from Trinidad, not many miles from Baguio, 
on the morning of the 23rd of June and went straight to the 
governor's "mansion." We were welcomed by Mrs. Whit- 
marsh into a nipa-roofed, suali house which, though it was 
quite large, had no partitions except such as were made of 
bamboo screens and hangings of bright-coloured Igorrote 
cloths. But it had a big, open fireplace and a fine blaze 
from odorous pine boughs was crackling up the chimney. 
This seemed particularly cosy and delightful to us because 
we had just been camping in native huts in which the only 
place for a fire was a square of earth in the middle of the 

204 




m 



~, * 



3 y 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

floor and we were not only quite frozen but we were thor- 
oughly smoked. 

At Baguio we got letters and telegrams from Manila and 
one of the telegrams announced my husband's appointment 
as Governor of the Islands, so I knew that an adjustment of 
state affairs had been made and that I should reach Manila 
to begin a new era in my Philippine experience. Mr. Taft 
wrote me that the plans for his inauguration were practically 
complete and that he was issuing cards for a big reception in 
honour of General MacArthur at our house on the evening of 
the Fourth of July. This filled me with something like 
panic, because I didn't expect to reach Manila until after 
the first of July and I didn't see how I could get ready on 
such short notice to entertain hundreds of people. How- 
ever, it was not for me to enter a protest on such a score, so 
it was decided that we would go down as soon as we possibly 
could. 

We spent two days enjoying the delightful hospitality of 
our friends in Baguio and in exploring the country round 
about, and I, after listening to builders' dreams of what was 
to be and now is, proceeded to select a site for my own future 
summer home. 

We sat around a roaring fire of an evening and sang all 
our songs, rather ruefully; we recounted our many adven- 
tures, and expressed our sincere regret that our holiday was 
over; then on the morning of the 25th of June, at the dreary 
hour of half past four, we mounted our refreshed and rested 
horses and started down the long Naguilian trail to the coast. 
I wish only to add that the heat in the lowlands, after our 
long breath of white man's air in the mountains, was almost 
more than we could stand, and I made the fatal mistake of 
leaving Baguio in a heavy flannel riding shirt and with no 
thin blouse handy to take its place. 

205 



CHAPTER X 

GOVERNOR TAFT 

There is no denying that the arrangements made, during 
my absence in the north, for my participation in the events 
attending my husband's induction into the office of Governor 
of the Philippines were enough to fill me with dismay. 

Mr. Taft had issued two thousand invitations for the re- 
ception at our house in honour of General MacArthur, and 
on my way down from Baguio I had been spending my time 
wondering how I should take care of the three or four hun- 
dred I imagined had been asked. I had received no informa- 
tion more definite than the simple statement that invitations 
had been sent out, and it was not until I reached Manila 
that I learned the startling number. I thought my husband 
knew something about the limitations of our house, but I 
found that he had not taken this important matter into con- 
sideration at all. 

Fortunately we had a large garden in fairly good condi- 
tion by this time, so I immediately went to work and had 
it decorated with long lines and festoons of Japanese lan- 
terns; I ordered a large refreshment tent put up in the middle 
of the wide lawn; then I sat down and prayed for fair 
weather. It was the rainy season and I knew that only a 
specially importuned Providence could keep the afternoon of 
the Fourth of July clear. 

The inauguration of the first American Governor was an 
occasion of great dignity and interest. The ceremony took 
place on a platform erected at one end of a large square in the 
Walled City which is enclosed on one side by the Ayuntami- 
ento, or Insular Capitol, and on another by the Cathedral. 
The foundations of the Inaugural stand were of historic 
interest in that they were originally intended to support 

206 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

a magnificent residence for Spanish Governors-General and 
were on the site of the ancient gubernatorial mansion which 
was destroyed by an earthquake in 1863. The rebuilding 
had never progressed beyond the laying of the massive 
granite base, and this still stands as a mute reminder to 
progressive Americans of the dilatory and otherwise ques- 
tionable methods which once obtained in the Philippine gov- 
ernment. 

The Cathedral Plaza — since renamed Plaza McKinley — ■ 
presented a memorable scene that Fourth of July morning. 
The architectural grace and time-mellowed colours of the 
old Spanish buildings blended with the rich luxuriance of 
many-hued tropic plants and the green of spreading acacias. 
American flags covered the canopied platforms and floated 
from every possible point of vantage. Americans and Fili- 
pinos, all in gala attire, were pressed close together in the 
spectators' stands which extended on either side of the cen- 
tral pavilion ; the plaza below was thronged with Filipinos 
of every rank and condition, in all manner of bright justs 
■ and calicos; while above the crowd towered many American 
soldiers and sailors in spic-and-span khaki or white duck. 

The programme was much like other programmes. Gen- 
eral MacArthur and his staff occupied the centre of the plat- 
form. A well trained and finely conducted Filipino band 
played several numbers; there was a prayer and an invoca- 
tion; then my husband, looking larger even than his natural 
size in his crisp white linen suit, stepped to the front of the 
platform and stood gravely looking down upon the stocky 
little Chief Justice of the Archipelago, Senor Arellano, who 
administered the oath of office. Afterward Mr. Taft and 
Mr. Fergusson stood together and delivered, in English and 
Spanish, paragraph by paragraph in translation, the Inau- 
gural address. 

I think only one unfortunate incident occurred to mar the 
complete harmony of the occasion, and that was furnished 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

by a United States Congressman of the Military Committee 
of the House, who was visiting Manila at the time. 

Tickets of admission to the central pavilion had been sent 
to him, but he had forgotten to bring them with him. How- 
ever, when he arrived at the plaza he started, with several 
ladies who were with him, to mount the steps of the Inau- 
gural platform on which no ladies were allowed. He was 
stopped, naturally, and a guard offered to conduct his guests 
to seats on a side pavilion, telling him at the time that the 
central stand had been reserved for government officials and 
representatives, among whom he, of course, was included. 
This separate seating of the ladies seemed to annoy him for 
some reason, and he announced his intention of remaining 
with his party. He was then shown to the best available 
seats and the incident seemed to be closed. But he was by 
no means satisfied with his position, especially when he found 
that the wives of some of the Commissioners had seats in 
front of him. I think the heat must have been affecting 
him for he called the Naval Lieutenant, who was in charge 
as usher, and made audible protest against "those wives of 
clerks" being put before him and his wife. The young 
naval officer was polite, but quite firm in his refusal to take 
any steps to remedy matters. 

"You don't seem to know who I am !" he exclaimed, with 
manifest indignation. 

"No, sir, I do not," mildly replied the Lieutenant. 

"Well," said the angry man, "I'm a member of the Mili- 
tary Committee of the House of Representatives. I helped 
to make this Army out here and I've come out to see what 
kind of work I did. I don't like it, and I'm going home and 
unmake it. This treatment of me here is of a piece with the 
treatment I've received ever since I've been in these islands." 

This didn't sound quite fair. He had been treated with 
marked courtesy by everybody and had accepted rather lavish 
hospitality from both Army officers and civil officials. In 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

fact, he had received every possible attention in a most un- 
usually hospitable community. The young Lieutenant 
bristled up and said: 

"Sorry, sir, but I'm obeying orders; and I'd just like to tell 
you that I consider your remarks exceedingly impolite." 

Upon which the gentleman from Washington left the 
pavilion and went down to stand in a place which the guards 
had been ordered to keep clear. 

The rest of the story I heard afterward. It seems that 
both General Barry and General Davis saw him and took 
pains to go down and ask him up into the central pavilion, 
but he refused to go. Then one of the guards came up and 
politely informed him: "Orders, sir, you'll have to stand 
back." By this time he was infuriated and he turned on the 
guard and, after identifying himself, repeated his remarks 
about having made the Army and being determined to go 
back to Washington and unmake it. 

"Well," said the guard, "I guess you can't unmake me. 
I've just been mustered out of the United States Army and 
am a plain American citizen. I don't understand that Con- 
gress can do much about unmaking American citizens." 
Which all goes to show that it doesn't do much good to lose 
one's temper. The gentleman took his party and stalked 
out of the plaza. 

My hopes for the evening were blasted. About five 
o'clock the heavens opened and such a sheet of water de- 
scended upon my refreshment tent and my strings of gay 
paper lanterns as one never sees in the Temperate Zone. It 
was raining in torrents when our guests began to arrive, and 
if many of those invited had not been kept at home by the 
weather I don't know what I should have done with the 
crowd. I had a wide hall, a small reception-room, a 
dining-room and the verandah, but two thousand people are 
a good many, and I'm sure a large majority of them came 
in spite of the weather. It was a "crush," and a warm, 

209 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

moist crush, but it was a gala occasion, everybody was in 
good humour and the evening passed much more pleasantly 
than I had any reason to expect. This was the first enter- 
tainment of such proportions that I had undertaken in Ma- 
nila, and I saw at once that, as the Governor's wife, I should 
need all the spaciousness of Malacanan Palace. 

I think General MacArthur was pleased with our farewell 
hospitality to him; he seemed to be; and I think his feelings 
toward Mr. Taft, when he left the Islands the next day, were 
exceedingly friendly. But we heard later that letters had 
come from companions of his on the ship which said that he 
very keenly resented the fact that the new Governor had not 
seen fit to mention him with praise in his Inaugural address. 
Mr. Taft said he was very sorry, but, in view of the rela- 
tions which were known to exist between the Military gov- 
ernment and the Commission, he thought it would have been 
very difficult to find the tactful words which would have 
satisfied the General, and in uttering which he would not 
have stultified himself. 

I am quite sure that General MacArthur never disliked 
my husband personally. His resentment was against the 
Commissioners in their official capacity, whereby his own 
authority was diminished. In later years, as Secretary of 
War, Mr. Taft met him very often and their relations were 
always perfectly cordial. After his death there was con- 
siderable newspaper comment to the effect that he had been 
very badly treated. There was no refutation of the charges, 
but everybody familiar with the facts knew they had no 
foundation. When Mr. Taft was Secretary of War, on his 
recommendation General MacArthur was given the highest 
rank in the United States Army, that of Lieutenant-General, 
and at his own request was sent by Mr. Taft on a mission to 
travel through China with his son, an Army officer, as his 
aide, and to make a military report upon the country. On 
his return, at his own request, he was not assigned to specific 

210 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

command, but was ordered to his home at Milwaukee to 
prepare the report on China, and there he remained by his 
own choice until his retirement. 

On the morning of July 5, we moved to Malacanan, and 
General Chaffee, who succeeded General MacArthur, took 
our house on the Bay. There was a great deal of conten- 
tion with regard to this exchange of houses. Mr. Taf t knew 
that to the mind of the Filipinos the office of Governor, 
without the accustomed "setting" and general aspects of the 
position, would lose a large part of its dignity and effective- 
ness. He also knew that a Civil Government, unless it 
were quartered in the Ayuntamiento, the recognised seat of 
government, would inspire but little confidence or respect. 
The outward semblance is all-important to the Filipino mind, 
yet knowing this the Military authorities clung with dogged 
tenacity to every visible evidence of supremacy, and it took 
an order from Washington to get them to vacate the Ayun- 
tamiento in which they had, in the beginning, refused the 
Commission adequate office room. An official order also 
turned the Governor's residence over to the new Governor 
and, at the same time, relieved Mr. Taft of the necessity for 
deciding what to do with our house in Malate. It was the 
best available house in the city and every man on the Com- 
mission wanted it, so if the War Department had not taken 
it for the Commanding General somebody's feelings surely 
would have suffered. Mr. Taft had about decided to toss a 
coin in the presence of them all to see which one of his col- 
leagues should have it. 

In some ways we regretted that the move was necessary, 
for we were very comfortable in our "chalet," as Senor Juan 
de Juan had editorially called it, and invigourating dips in 
the high breakers of the Bay had become one of our pleas- 
antest pastimes. But we knew that no amount of execu- 
tive orders could turn our homely and unpalatial abode into 
a gubernatorial mansion, so we needs must move for the ef- 

211 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

feet on the native mind, if for nothing else. Not until we 
did, would the Filipinos be convinced that Civil Government 
was actually established. 

Not that I wasn't well pleased with the idea of living in a 
palace, however unlike the popular conception of a palace 
it might be. I had not been brought up with any such des- 
tiny in view and I confess that it appealed to my imagina- 
tion. 

Malacanan is old and rather damp and, in my time, some 
of it had not been furnished or finished according to modern 
ideas, but in size and dignity it leaves nothing to be desired, 
and it has historic associations which give it an atmosphere 
that I found to be quite thrilling. It contains many fine, 
old-world Spanish portraits, and there is one large canvas 
of especial interest which hangs at the head of the main 
stairway. It depicts the ceremony through which Magellan 
made peace with the natives of Cebu when he landed on that 
island in April, 1521. This consisted of drawing blood 
from the breasts of the principal parties to the contract, the 
one drinking that of the other. The Spaniards called it the 
Facto de Sangre, or the Blood Pact, and so the picture is 
named. In our own day the Katipunan League, the 
strongest and most sinister of all the insurrectionary secret 
societies, are said to have adopted this ceremony in their 
rites of initiation, and members of the League could be iden- 
tified by a peculiar scar on the breast. 

The grounds at Malacanan contain, perhaps, twenty acres, 
and in those days there were fields and swamps in the en- 
closure as well as lawns and fountains, flower-beds and 
kitchen gardens. There were five or six good-sized houses 
in the grounds for the use of secretaries and aides, and the 
stables were very large. 

I would not care to hazard a guess as to the number of 
■parientes we sheltered in the quarters of our employes. Mr. 
Taft called these quarters our "Filipino tenement" and 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"Calle Pariente," but screened with shrubbery and spread- 
ing down the sides of a twenty-acre lot the colony did not 
seem as conspicuous as our huddled tribe had been in Mal- 
ate. 

The Palace is architecturally Spanish, yet it lacks the 
large patio, having two small courts instead. The lower 
floor, on a level with the ground, is really nothing more than 
a basement and has no usable spaces in it except some raised 
offices and cloak rooms. Frequently during bad typhoons 
I have seen water two and three feet deep in the entrance 
hall, but it always receded very rapidly and seldom gave 
us any inconvenience. The entrance, which is paved with 
marble, is very broad, and there is a wide and imposing 
staircase of polished hardwood leading to the reception hall 
above. The great living-rooms open one into another, giv- 
ing a fine perspective, and they lead, through a dozen dif- 
ferent doorways, on to a splendid, white-tiled verandah 
which runs out to the bank of the Pasig River. There is a 
picturesque, moss-covered river landing on the verandah 
below. 

There are about twenty rooms on the one floor, all of them 
good sized and some of them enormous, and it took a great 
many servants to keep the place in order. The floors were 
all of beautiful hardwoods and it required a permanent force 
of six muchachos to keep them in a proper state of polish. 
The Filipino method of polishing floors is interesting. Your 
muchacho ties either banana leaves or some sort of bags on 
his bare feet, then he skates up and down, up and down, 
until the floors get so slick that he himself can hardly stand 
up on them. It is easy to imagine that six boys skating to- 
gether in the spaciousness of the Palace might cut fancy 
figures and have a delightful time generally, if they thought 
they were unobserved. Filipinos of the fnuchacho class al- 
ways play like children, no matter what they are doing, and 
they have to be treated like children. 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The Palace furniture, which must have been very fine 
in Spanish days, was of red narra, or Philippine mahogany, 
handsomely carved and displaying on every piece the Span- 
ish coat-of-arms. But during the changing Spanish regimes 
some one with a bizarre taste had covered all the beautiful 
wood with a heavy coat of black paint. The effect was de- 
pressingly sombre to me. 

The porcelain, however, or what was left of it, was unusu- 
ally good. The Spanish coat-of-arms in beautiful colours 
was reproduced on each plate against a background of a dark 
blue canopy. I must say there were quite as many re- 
minders of Spanish authority as I could wish for and I fre- 
quently felt that some noble Don might walk in at any 
moment and catch me living in his house. 

But, it didn't take us long to get settled down in our new 
domain, and I soon ceased to regret the sea breezes and the 
salt baths of Malate. Malacanan enjoyed a clean sweep of 
air from the river and our open verandah was in many ways 
an improvement on the gaudily glazed one that we had grad- 
ually become accustomed to in the other house. The Malac- 
anan verandah, being much of it roofless, was of little use 
in the daytime, but on clear evenings it was the most delight- 
ful spot I have ever seen. I began to love the tropical 
nights and to feel that I never before had known what nights 
can be like. The stars were so large and hung so low that 
they looked almost like raised silver figures on a dark blue 
field. And when the moon shone — but why try to write 
about tropical moonlight*? The wonderful sunsets and 
the moonlit nights have tied more American hearts to 
Manila and the Philippines than all the country's other 
charms combined. And they are both indescribable. 

When I lived in Malate and could look out across the 
open, white-capped bay to far-away Mt. Meriveles, I some- 
times forgot I was in the Tropics. But at Malacanan when 
we gazed down on the low-lapping Pasig, glinting in the 

214 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

starlight, and across the rice fields on the other side where 
swaying lanterns twinkled from beneath the outline of 
thatched roofs, there was little to remind us that we were 
Americans or that we had ever felt any air less soothing than 
the soft breeze which rustled the bamboo plumes along the 
bank. 

Our household was in every way much enlarged on our 
change of residence and circumstances. There were eight or 
nine muchachos in the house, two extra Chinese helpers in 
the kitchen, and the staff of coachmen and gardeners in- 
creased on even a larger scale. Our stable of ponies multi- 
plied to sixteen, and even then there were too few for our 
various needs. It is difficult for the dweller in the Tem- 
perate Zone to realise how small an amount of work the 
native of the Tropics, either man or beast, is capable of. 

We thought at first that the salary attached to the office 
of Governor of the Philippines was quite splendid, but we 
soon gave up any idea we might have had of saving a little 
of it for a rainy day. Our rainy day was upon us. It 
rained official obligations which we had to meet. The mere 
cost of lighting Malacanan was enough to keep a modest 
family in comfort. I don't know about conditions at the 
Palace now, but I imagine they have not changed much, and 
I do know that Manila is a more expensive place in which 
to live than it was in my time. And yet there is serious talk 
of reducing the salary of the Governor-General. It seems 
a pity. This would place the office in a class with Ambas- 
sadorships which nobody but rich men can accept. The 
present salary, with nice management and a not too am- 
bitious programme, will just about cover expenses, but I 
feel sorry for the wife of the Governor who must try to 
do what is expected of her on less. 

My cook, who had been quite independent of me at 
Malate, became at Malacanan wholly unapproachable. I 
don't know why, but so it was. He occupied quarters open- 

215 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ing on one of the courts below and connected with the dining- 
room by an outside staircase up which I was never able to 
inveigle him. I had to deliver my orders from the top of 
the stairs and when he had listened to just as much as he 
cared to hear he would disappear through the kitchen door, 
and no amount of calling would bring him back. As the 
kitchen was an ante-chamber to a sort of Chinese catacombs, 
extending over a good part of the basement, I never ven- 
tured to follow him and I had to swallow my wrath as best 
I could. 

But he was a jewel despite his eccentricities. He could 
produce the most elaborate and varied buffet suppers I ever 
saw and I never knew a cook who could make such a wonder- 
ful variety of cakes and fruit tarts and cream-puffs. He 
took a real delight in their construction, and for two days 
before a reception he would spend all his time filling every 
pan in the house with patisseries elaborately iced in every 
imaginable colour. 

I began at once to give an afternoon reception every week 
and if it hadn't been for my disagreeable, but capable, old 
Ah Sing I should have been in a constant turmoil of en- 
gagements with caterers and confectioners. As it was, I 
never had to give an order, really. "Reception Wednesday, 
Ah Sing," was all that was necessary, and except for a 
glance now and then to see that the muchaclios were giving 
the floors and the furniture a little extra polish on Wednes- 
day morning, the only preparations I had to make for receiv- 
ing two thousand people were to put on an embroidered 
muslin gown and compose myself. 

These afternoon receptions were public, our only form of 
invitation being an "At Home" notice in the newspapers, and 
considering the unsettled state of Manila society in those 
days, it is really remarkable that we had so few unwelcome 
guests. There were a great many derelicts and generally dis- 
reputable people, both American and European, trying to 

216 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

better their fortunes or add to the excitement in our agitated 
community, but we suffered no unpleasant consequences from 
our open hospitality, though every Wednesday the Palace 
was thronged and every Wednesday many new faces ap- 
peared. Army and Navy people, civilians of every occupa- 
tion and many foreigners — Germans and British mostly — 
came nearly always. I remember especially the first instal- 
ment of American school teachers. They were, for the most 
part, a fine lot of men and women who had come out with 
high hopes and ideals and an enthusiastic desire to pass them 
on. There were some pretty girls among them and a number 
of very clever looking men. I believe they used to enjoy 
my parties as much as anybody in Manila. They were 
homesick, no doubt, especially the girls, and I suppose 
the sight of so many friendly American faces cheered them 
up. 

The Filipinos had to have a little coaxing before they 
began to avail themselves very freely of our general invita- 
tion. But by asking many of them personally and persist- 
ently to "be sure and come Wednesday" we prevailed on a 
good number to believe they were really wanted; and after a 
little while there began to be as many brown faces as white 
among our guests. 

Speaking of school teachers reminds me that it was just 
about this time that our minds were relieved of all anxiety 
with regard to Bob's and Helen's education. My husband 
had wanted to send our ten-year-old son back across the 
Pacific and the United States, all by himself, to his Uncle 
Horace's school in Connecticut, and I had opposed the idea 
with all my might without being able to offer a satisfactory 
substitute plan. But now a school for American children 
was opened and they were as well taught as they would have 
been at home. Moreover, Bob and Helen found a large 
number of congenial companions, and I don't think I ever 
saw a happier set of boys and girls. They lived out of doors 

217 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and did everything that children usually do, but their most 
conspicuous performance was on the Luneta in the evenings, 
where they would race around the drive on their little ponies, 
six abreast, or play games all over the grass plots which were 
then, and always 'have been, maintained chiefly for the ben- 
efit of children, both brown and white. 

My husband's change in title and station made very little 
difference in the character of his duties, but it gave him 
increased authority in the performance of them. The on- 
erous necessity for submitting legislation to an executive 
whose point of view was different from that of the Commis- 
sion came to an end, and he was able to see that such laws as 
the Commission passed were put in operation without delay. 
Under General Chaffee the feeling on the part of the Army 
against the encroachments of civil government gave way, 
slowly but surely, to an attitude of, at least, friendly tolera- 
tion. It was as if they said : "Well, let them alone; we 
know they are wrong; but they must learn by experience, 
and, after all, they mean well." 

General Chaffee and General MacArthur were two quite 
different types of men. General Chaffee was less precise, 
less analytical. General MacArthur had always been given 
to regarding everything in its "psychological" aspect and, 
indeed, "psychological" was a word so frequently on his lips 
that it became widely popular. General Chaffee was impet- 
uous; he was much less formal than his predecessor both in 
thought and manner, and Mr. Taft found co-operation with 
him much less difficult. He made no secret of his convic- 
tion, which was shared by most of the Army, that civil gov- 
ernment was being established prematurely, but he was not 
unreasonable about it. 

He refused at first to listen to the proposition for the 
establishment of a native Constabulary. This had been 
the Commission's pet project ever since they had been in 
the Islands, and it was a great disappointment to them to 

218 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

find that the opposition which they had encountered in the 
former administration was to be continued. 

What they wanted was a force of several thousand Fil- 
ipinos, trained and commanded by American Army officers, 
either from the regular Army or from the volunteers. The 
same thing had been done with success by the British in India 
and the Straits Settlements, by the Dutch in Java and by our 
own General Davis in Porto Rico, and as the insurrectionary 
force had dwindled to a few bands and to scattered groups 
of murderers and ladrones, so acknowledged by everybody, 
there was no reason why a native constabulary should not be 
employed to clear these out. 

This plan was among the first things submitted to Gen- 
eral Chaffee, but he was evidently not impressed. "Pin 
them down with a bayonet for at least ten years" was a 
favourite expression of Army sentiment which sometimes 
made the Commissioners' explanations to the natives rather 
difficult. 

General Wright, on behalf of the Commission, called on 
General Chaffee and was much surprised to learn that he 
had not even read the Constabulary bill which had been 
passed some time before and held up pending the hoped for 
opportunity to carry it into effect. When General Wright 
explained the purport of the measure General Chaffee said, 

"I am opposed to the whole business. It seems to me that 
you are trying to introduce something to take the place of 
my Army." 

"Why, so we are," said General Wright. "We are try- 
ing to create a civil police force to do the police work which 
we understood the Army was anxious to be relieved of. You 
have announced your purpose to concentrate the Army in the 
interest of economy, and to let our civil governments stand 
alone to see what is in them and we consider it necessary to 
have a constabulary, or some such force, to take care of the 
lawless characters that are sure to be in the country after four 

219 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

years of war, and especially in a country where the natives 
take naturally to ladronism. The Municipal police as now 
organised are not able to meet all the requirements in this 
regard." 

"There you are," said General Chaffee, "you give your 
whole case away." 

"I have no case to give away," replied General Wright. 
"We are trying to put our provincial governments on a basis 
where they will require nothing but the moral force of the 
military arm, and actually to preserve law and order 
through the civil arm. The people desire peace, but they 
also desire protection and we intend through the civil gov- 
ernment to give it to them." 

The Commissioner then suggested the names of some 
Army officers whose peculiar tact in handling Filipinos had 
marked them as the best available men for organising and 
training native soldiers, but General Chaffee was not in- 
clined to detail them for the work, so General Wright 
returned to the Commission quite cast down and communi- 
cated to his colleagues the feeling that they were to have a 
continuance of the same difficulties with which they were 
required to contend under the former administration. 

But a peacemaker came along in the person of General 
Corbin. He spent some time with General Chaffee and 
then came to Malacanan to visit us. He made a hurried, 
but quite extensive trip through the Islands and gave the 
whole situation pretty thorough inspection. After he left, 
a change was found to have come over the spirit of affairs, 
and it was thought that he had managed to make clear to 
everybody concerned that, while there was a military arm 
and a civil arm of the government in the Philippines, they 
represented a single American purpose and that that purpose 
had been expressed by the administration at Washington 
when the Commission was sent out to do the work it was then 
engaged upon. 

220 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

After that General Chaffee seems not only to have been 
amenable to reason, but to have been imbued with a spirit 
of cordiality and helpfulness which was most gratifying to 
the long-harassed Commission. To facilitate co-operation, 
a private telephone was installed between the offices of Mr. 
Taft and the Commanding General, and it seemed to me 
that my husband suddenly lost some of the lines of worry 
which had begun to appear in his face. 

The Constabulary, as everybody knows, was eventually 
established and perhaps no finer body of men, organised for 
such a purpose, exists. It took a long time to get them en- 
listed, equipped and properly drilled, but to-day they are a 
force which every man and woman in the Philippines, of 
whatever nationality, colour, creed or occupation, regards 
with peculiar satisfaction. They include corps enlisted 
from nearly every tribe in the Islands, not excepting the 
Moros and the Igorrotes. The Moro constabulario is dis- 
tinguishable from the Christian in that he wears a jaunty red 
fez with his smart khaki uniform instead of the regulation 
cap, while the Igorrote refuses trousers and contents himself 
with the cap, the tight jacket, the cartridge belt and a bright 
"G-string." To the Ifugao Igorrote uniform is added a 
distinguishing spiral of brass which the natty soldier wears 
just below the knee. It is difficult to imagine anything 
more extraordinary than a "crack" company of these mag- 
nificent bare-legged Ifugaos going through dress-parade drill 
under the sharp commands of an American officer. The 
Constabulary Band of eighty-odd pieces, under the direction 
of Captain Loving, an American negro from the Boston Con- 
servatory of Music, is well known in America and is gen- 
erally considered one of the really great bands of the world. 
All its members are Filipinos. 

Press clippings and some correspondence which I have 
before me remind me that even at this period there began 
to manifest itself in the Taft family, and otherwheres, a 

221 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

mild interest in the possibility that my husband might be- 
come President of the United States. Mr. Taft himself 
treated all such "far-fetched speculation" with the derision 
which he thought it deserved, but to me it did not seem at 
all unreasonable. We received first a copy of the Boston 
Herald containing two marked articles in parallel columns, 
one of which, headed by a picture of Mr. Taft, stated that 
in Washington there had been serious suggestion of his name 
as a Presidential candidate and the other giving a sympa- 
thetic account of an anti-imperialistic meeting at Faneuil 
Hall. We thought the two articles as "news items" hardly 
warranted juxtaposition, and it seemed to us the editor was 
indulging a sort of sardonic sense of humour when he placed 
them so. Not that my husband was an "imperialist," but 
that he was generally so considered. Indeed, he was the 
most active anti-imperialist of them all. He was doing the 
work of carrying out a thoroughly anti-imperialistic policy, 
but he recognised the difference between abandoning the 
Philippines to a certain unhappy fate and guiding them to 
substantial independence founded on self-dependence. It 
took a long time to get the shouters from the house-tops to 
accept this interpretation of our national obligation, but 
there was reassurance in the fact that where our honour is 
involved Americanism can always be trusted to rise above 
purely partisan politics. 

Mr. Taft's mother, who took an active and very intelli- 
gent interest in her son's work and who sent him letters by 
nearly every mail which were filled with entertaining and 
accurate comment on Philippine affairs, took the suggestion 
of his being a Presidential possibility quite seriously. And 
she did not at all approve of it. Having seen a number of 
press notices about it she sat down and wrote him a long 
letter in which she discussed with measured arguments the 
wisdom of his keeping out of politics. At that time the idea 
appealed to nothing in him except his sense of humour. He 

222 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

wrote to his brother Charles : 'To me such a discussion has 
for its chief feature the element of humour. The idea that 
a man who has issued injunctions against labour unions, al- 
most by the bushel, who has sent at least ten or a dozen vio- 
lent labour agitators to jail, and who is known as one of the 
worst judges for the maintenance of government by injunc- 
tion, could ever be a successful candidate on a Presidential 
ticket, strikes me as intensely ludicrous; and had I the 
slightest ambition in that direction I hope that my good 
sense would bid me to suppress it. But, more than this, the 
horrors of a modern Presidential campaign and the political 
troubles of the successful candidate for President, rob the 
office of the slightest attraction for me. I have but one 
ambition, and if that cannot be satisfied I am content to 
return to the practice of the law with reasonable assurance 
that if my health holds out I can make a living, and make 
Nellie and the children more comfortable than I could if I 
went to Washington." 

This letter is dated August 27, 1901, and was written on a 
Spanish steamer which the Commission had taken from 
Aparri, on the north coast of Luzon, after they finished the 
last of the long trips they had to make for the purpose of 
organising civil government in the provinces. 

It was just after they returned from this trip; just when 
things were at their brightest; when everything seemed to be 
developing so rapidly and our hopes were running high, that 
we were shaken by the appalling news of the attack on Presi- 
dent McKinley. We had kept luncheon waiting for Mr. 
Taft until it seemed useless to wait any longer and we were 
at table when he came in. He looked so white and stunned 
and helpless that I was frightened before he could speak. 
Then he said, "The President has been shot." 

I suppose that throughout the United States the emotions 
of horror and grief were beyond expression, but I cannot 
help thinking that to the Americans in the Philippines the 

223 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

shock came with more overwhelming force than to any one 
else. Mr. McKinley was our chief in a very special sense. 
He was the director of our endeavours and the father of our 
destinies. It was he who had sent the civil officials out 
there and it was on the strength of his never failing support 
that we had relied in all our troubles. It might, indeed, 
have been Mr. Root in whose mind the great schemes for the 
development of the islands and their peoples had been con- 
ceived, but Mr. Root exercised his authority through the 
wise endorsement of the President and it was to the Presi- 
dent that we looked for sanction or criticism of every move 
that was made. Then, too, the extraordinary sweetness of 
his nature inspired in every one with whom he came in close 
contact a strong personal affection, and we had reason to 
feel this more than most people. Truly, it was as if the 
foundations of our world had crumbled under us. 

But he was not dead ; and on the fact that he was strong 
and clean we began to build hopes. Yet the hush which fell 
upon the community on the day that he was shot was not 
broken until a couple of days before he died when we re- 
ceived word that he was recovering. We were so far away 
that we could not believe anybody would send us such a 
cable unless it were founded on a practical certainty, and 
our "Thank God!" was sufficiently fervent to dispel all the 
gloom that had enveloped us. Then came the cable an- 
nouncing his death. I need not dwell on that. 

Mr. Taft and Mr. Roosevelt knew each other very well. 
They had been in Washington together years before, Mr. 
Taft as Solicitor General, Mr. Roosevelt as Civil Service 
Commissioner, and they had corresponded with some fre- 
quency since we had been in Manila. So, in so far as the 
work in the Philippines was concerned, my husband knew 
where the new President's sympathies were and he had no 
fears on that score. At the same time he was most anxious 
to have Mr. Root continued as Secretary of War in order 

224 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

that there might not be any delay or radical change in carry- 
ing out the plans which had been adopted and put in opera- 
tion under his direction. All activities suffered a sort of 
paralysis from the crushing blow of the President's assassi- 
nation, but the press of routine work continued. We were 
very much interested in learning that a great many Filipinos, 
clever politicians as they are, thought that after Mr. Mc- 
Kinley's death Mr. Bryan would become President, and 
that, after all, they would get immediate independence. 

Then came the awful tragedy of Balangiga. It hap- 
pened only a few days after the President died, while our 
nerves were still taut, and filled us all with unspeakable 
horror intensified by the first actual fear we had felt since 
we had been in the Philippine Islands. Company "C" of 
the 9th Infantry, stationed at the town of Balangiga on 
the island of Samar, was surprised at breakfast, without 
arms and at a considerable distance from their quarters, and 
fifty of them were massacred. About thirty fought their 
way bare handed through the mob, each man of which had 
a bolo or a gun, and lived to tell the tale. It was a disaster 
so ghastly in its details, so undreamed of under the con- 
ditions of almost universal peace which had been estab- 
lished, that it created absolute panic. Men began to go 
about their everyday occupations in Manila carrying pistols 
conspicuously displayed, and half the people one met could 
talk of nothing else but their conviction that the whole 
archipelago was a smouldering volcano and that we were all 
liable to be murdered in our beds any night. Of course this 
made the Army officers more certain than ever that the 
Islands should have remained under military control indefi- 
nitely, and I cannot deny that, at the time, their arguments 
seemed to have some foundation. It was a frightful nerv- 
ous strain and it took several months of tranquillity to restore 
confidence. If it had been a regular engagement in which 
the Americans had sustained a reverse it could have been 

225 






RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

accepted with some philosophy, but it was a plain massacre 
of a company of defenceless men by many times their num- 
ber who had gotten into the town with the consent of the 
American authorities, and in conspiracy with the local head- 
man and the native parish priest, on the pretext of bringing 
in for surrender a band of insurrectos. 

The man, Lucban, who was in command of the Samar 
ladrones who committed this atrocity, is now a prominent 
politico in Manila, and it is interesting to know that only last 
year, in a campaign speech, he referred with dramatic inten- 
sity to "our glorious victory of Balangiga." He was ap- 
pealing to an ignorant electorate, many of whom, as he 
knew, wore the scar of the awful Katipunan "blood pact," 
but it is just to record that the average Filipino is not proud 
of the Balangiga "victory." 

Shortly before these unhappy events my sister Maria was 
called back to America by the illness of our mother, and I 
was left to face the tragic excitements of the month of Sep- 
tember without her comforting companionship. By October 
I began to feel that I would have to get out of the Philippine 
Islands or suffer a nervous breakdown, so my husband and I 
agreed that it would be well for me to "run up to China," as 
they express it out there. Running up to China at that time 
of year meant getting out of tropic heat into bracing autumn 
weather with a nip of real winter in it, and there was noth- 
ing that I needed more. 

Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Moses were both anxious to see 
something of China before leaving the Orient, and as this 
seemed an excellent opportunity to make the trip, they de- 
cided to go with me. The Boxer Insurrection had just been 
suppressed and the Dowager Empress had not yet returned 
from the West, whither she had fled during the siege of 
Peking. We were used to the alarums of war and we 
thought we were likely to see more of China "from the in- 

226 






RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

side" than if we visited the country during a period of com- 
plete calm. Then there were wonderful tales of valuable 
"loot" which interested us. Not necessarily illegitimate 
loot, but curios and art treasures in the hands of Chinese 
themselves who were selling things at ridiculously low 
figures and, sometimes, with a fascinating air of great mys- 
tery. There is some allurement in the idea of bargaining 
for priceless porcelains, ivories, silks and Russian sables 
behind closed and double-locked doors, in the dark depths of 
some wretched Chinese hovel. Our Army officers who had 
helped to relieve Peking brought us stories of this kind of 
adventure, and I secretly hoped that we should be able to 
have just some such experience. But being the wives of 
American officials I thought likely we should be "taken care 
of" every hour of every twenty-four. And so we were. 

We sailed to Shanghai and went from there straight to 
Peking, where we became the guests of Colonel and Mrs. 
Robertson, who had gone in with the American troops in the 
Allied Armies and were quartered in no less a place than the 
Temple of Heaven. The casual tourist looking now upon 
that glorious collection of ancestral shrines would find it 
difficult to believe that they once served as barracks for 
American soldiers. Most people who visit the Temple of 
Heaven find in it an atmosphere of peace and serenity such 
as is achieved by few structures in the world, and to have 
this deep calm invaded by business-like "foreign-devil" 
troops must have ruffled the spirits of the high gods. But 
the soldiers had to be quartered somewhere and this great, 
clean, tree-sheltered enclosure in the heart of the Chinese 
city offered ample space. 

Mr. Conger was then our Minister to China, and after 
spending a few very busy days sightseeing we went to the 
Legation to visit him. The Legation quarter, which had 
been laid in ruins during the Boxer troubles, had not yet 

227 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

begun to assume an aspect of orderliness, and many were the 
evidences of the weeks of horror through which the besieged 
foreign representatives had lived. 

As the Empress Dowager and her court had not yet re- 
turned, we hoped to be able to see all the mysteries of the 
Forbidden City, but order had been restored to a point where 
it was possible to make the palaces once more "forbidden," 
so we were shown only enough to whet our curiosity. But 
the wonderful walls and the temples, the long, unbelievable 
streets and the curious life of the people were sufficient to 
save us from any feeling of disappointment in our visit. 
At a dinner given for us by our Minister we met a number 
of men and women who had been through the siege, and I 
sat next to Sir Robert Hart, of the Imperial Chinese Cus- 
toms, the most interesting man, perhaps, that the great occi- 
dental-oriental co-operation has ever produced. 

When we returned to Shanghai on our way down from 
Peking I was greeted by two cablegrams. It just happened 
that I opened them in the order of their coming and the first 
one contained the information that my husband was very ill 
and said that I had better return at once to Manila, while 
the second read that he was much better and that there was 
no cause for alarm. There was no way of getting to Manila 
for several days, because there were no boats going. So 
I decided to take a trip up the Yangtse River on 
the house-boat belonging to the wife of the American Con- 
sul. If I had been doing this for pleasure instead of for 
the purpose of "getting away from myself" I should have 
enjoyed it exceedingly, but as it was I have but a vague 
recollection of a very wide and very muddy river; great 
stretches of clay flats, broken here and there by little clumps 
of round mounds which I knew were Chinese graves, and 
bordered by distant, low hills; an occasional quaint grey 
town with uptilted tile roofs; and a few graceful but dreary- 
looking pagodas crowning lonesome hill-tops. And in addi- 

228 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

tion to all of this there was a seething mass of very dirty and 
very noisy humanity which kept out of our way and regarded 
us with anything but friendly looks. 

I had left my husband apparently perfectly well, but I 
subsequently learned that the night after I left Manila he 
developed the first symptoms of his illness. It was diag- 
nosed at first as dengue fever, a disease quite common in the 
Philippines which, though exceedingly disagreeable, is not 
regarded as dangerous. It was about two weeks before a 
correct diagnosis was made, and it was then discovered that 
he was suffering from an abscess which called for a serious 
emergency operation. He was taken to the First Reserve 
Army hospital and the operation was performed by Dr. 
Rhoads, the Army surgeon who afterward became his aide 
when he was President. 

The children must have been much frightened. They 
had never seen their father ill before, and he told me after- 
ward that he should never forget the way they looked as he 
was being carried out of Malacanan on a stretcher borne by 
six stalwart American policemen. They were all huddled 
together in the great hall as he passed through, and while 
Bob and Charlie were gazing at the proceedings in open-eyed 
astonishment, Helen was weeping. 

For twenty-four hours after the operation the doctors were 
not at all certain that their patient would live, nor did 
their anxiety end at that time. The abscess was of long 
growth, the wound had to be made a terrible one, and there 
was great danger of blood poisoning. Mr. Taft rallied 
but a second operation was necessary. By the time I 
reached Manila he was well on the way to recovery, though 
even then there was no prospect of his being able to move 
for many weeks to come. 

He used to lie on his cot in the hospital and recite to his 

visitors a verse of Kipling's which he thought fitted his case 

exactly : 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"Now it is not well for the white man 

To hurry the Aryan brown, 
For the white man riles and the Aryan smiles, 

And it weareth the white man down. 
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white 
With the name of the late deceased, 
And the epitaph drear: 'A fool lies here 
Who tried to hurry the East.' " 

It was decided at once by everybody, including the doctors, 
Mr. Root and President Roosevelt, that Mr. Taf t must leave 
the Islands as soon as he was able to travel, and there were 
several^reasons, besides those connected with health, why it 
seemed best for us to return to the United States. The 
principal one was that Congress was becoming very active 
with regard to Philippine matters, and as Mr. Taft was 
anxious that the right kind of legislation should be passed, 
he wished to go to Washington and present the facts about 
the situation as he had found them during his long hand-to- 
hand struggle with the problem. Mr. Root cabled him 
that his presence in Washington was necessary and granted 
him a three months' leave of absence from his duties as 
Governor, while General Wright was appointed vice- 
Governor to fill his place for the time being. 

Mr. Worcester was the ranking member of the Commis- 
sion, but my husband felt that he had not quite the same 
talent for genially dealing with every kind of person, 
whether evasive Filipino or dictatorial Army officer, which 
General Wright so conspicuously displayed, and, moreover, 
Mr. Worcester was entirely engrossed with the problems of 
his department, which included health and sanitation and 
the satisfactory adjustment of the difficulties connected with 
the government of the non-Christian tribes. These were 
matters which appealed to Mr. Worcester's scientific mind 
and which he vastly preferred to the uncongenial task of 
administering the routine of government, so he was only 

230 






RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

too willing not to be encumbered with the duties of Gover- 
nor. This, I understand, was Mr. Worcester's attitude 
throughout his thirteen years as Secretary of the Interior, 
during which time he was always the ranking Commis- 
sioner with the first right, under a promotion system, to 
the Governorship whenever a vacancy occurred in that 
office. 

The transport Grant was assigned for our use by General 
Chaffee, and we made our preparations for an extended 
absence. 

One incident of my husband's convalescence in the hos- 
pital I think I must relate. In an adjoining room General 
Frederick Funston was recovering from an operation for 
appendicitis and he was sufficiently far advanced to be able 
to walk around, so he used to call on Mr. Taft quite often. 
Now General Funston, for the benefit of those who have 
no mental picture of him, is by no means gigantic. He has 
the bearing of a seven-foot soldier, but the truth is he is not 
more than five feet three or four inches in height. 

One day there was an earthquake of long duration and 
extended vibration which would have been sufficient to 
destroy Manila had it not lacked a certain upward jerk 
calculated to unbalance swaying walls. One gets used to 
earthquakes in the Orient in a way, but no amount of famil- 
iarity can make the sensation a pleasant one. My husband 
was alone at the time and he had decided to hold hard to 
his bed and let the roof come down on him if it had to. 
The hospital was a one-story wooden building and he really 
thought he was as safe in it as he would be anywhere. 
Moreover, he was quite unable to walk, so his fortitude could 
hardly be called voluntary, but he had scarcely had time to 
steel himself for the worst when his door was thrown open 
and in rushed General Funston. 

"We must carry out the Governor!" he shouted; "we 
must carry out the Governor !" 

231 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"But how are you going to do that, General"?" asked Mr. 
Taft. 

He knew quite well that General Funston, in his weakened 
condition, would be incapable of carrying an infant very far. 

"Oh, I have my orderly with me," responded the doughty 
General, and by this time he had begun to get a firm grasp 
on the mattress while behind him hurried a soldier, shorter 
even than his chief, but with the same look of dauntless 
determination in his eye. 

In spite of the straining on the rafters, Mr. Taft burst 
out laughing and flatly refused to let them try to move him. 
Fortunately for them all the upward jerk necessary to bring 
down the roof didn't occur, so there is no way of telling 
whether or not, for once in his life, General Funston started 
something that he couldn't finish. 

We sailed from Manila on Christmas Eve, 1901, and, 
much as I had enjoyed my life and experiences in our new 
world of the Philippines, I was glad to see the tropic shores 
fade away and to feel that we were to have a few months 
in our own land and climate, and among our own old friends, 
before I sighted them again. 



232 



CHAPTER XI 

A TRIP TO ROME 

The winter of 1902, the greater part of which we spent in 
Cincinnati, is memorable only as a period of bereavement 
and protracted illnesses. Perhaps such a record has no 
place in a narrative wherein it is my wish to dwell on pleas- 
ant memories only, or, at least, to touch as lightly as possible 
upon those incidents which, for one's peace, may better be 
forgotten, but a whole winter filled with grief and worry 
is not so easily torn from the leaves of the calendar rolled 
back. 

In the first place, when I left Manila in December, 1901, 
I was very near to a nervous breakdown. This was due to 
the long strain of a peculiarly exacting official life in a try- 
ing climate, and an added weight of uneasiness about my 
husband's illness. 

Then, too, my mother was very ill. She had suffered a 
stroke of paralysis the year before from which she had never 
rallied and I was extremely anxious to be with her in Cin- 
cinnati. 

When we arrived in San Francisco a terrible mid-winter 
storm was sweeping the country from one end to the other 
and we were strongly advised to delay our trip across the 
continent, but we were both eager to go on so we started 
East at once over the Union Pacific. 

When we passed Ogden we found ourselves in the midst 
of the worst blizzard I ever saw. The snow piled up ahead 
of us, delaying us hour by hour; the bitter wind fairly shook 
the heavy train ; and to turn mere discomfort into misery the 
water pipes in the cars froze solid and we were left without 
heat of any kind. There was nothing to do but to go to 
bed; but even so, with all the blankets available piled on 
top of us, we shivered through interminable hours while the 

233 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

train creaked and puffed and struggled over the icy tracks. 

When we reached Omaha I received a telegram telling 
me that my mother had died the day before, and I found 
it no longer possible to brace myself against the inevitable 
collapse. We hurried on to Cincinnati and arrived in time 
for my mother's funeral, but I was too ill to be present. 
It was two months before I began to recover. 

In the meantime Mr. Taft left us and went on to Wash- 
ington for consultation with the President and Mr. Root 
and to appear before the Philippine Committees of the 
House and Senate which were then conducting minute in- 
quiries into conditions in the Islands preparatory to passing 
a much-needed governmental bill. For a whole month he 
was subjected to a hostile cross-examination, but he was 
able to place before the Committees more first-hand and 
accurate information on the subject of their deliberations 
than they had theretofore received. This was exactly what 
he wanted to come to the United States for, and he would 
greatly have enjoyed it had he been in his usual form, but 
he was not. During his stay in Washington he was the 
guest of Secretary and Mrs. Root and only their friendly 
care and solicitude enabled him to continue so long. In 
March he was compelled to return to Cincinnati for another 
operation, the third in five months. Everything considered, 
it seemed to me the Taft family had fallen upon evil days. 

However, the weeks passed, I began to improve, and as 
soon as my husband had fairly set his feet on earth again 
we began to make plans for our return to the Philippines. 
There could be no thought of abandoning the work in the 
Islands just when it was beginning to assume an ordered 
and encouraging aspect, nor was it possible just then to 
shift the responsibility to other shoulders. This would have 
been too much like "changing horses in the middle of a 
stream." 

My husband was able while he was in Washington to pre- 

2 34 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

sent to President Roosevelt and Secretary Root a very clear 
outline of Philippine affairs, together with such details as 
could never be conveyed by cable, and the inevitable con- 
clusion reached was that no solution of the problem was 
possible which did not include the settlement of the Friar 
controversy. The four monastic orders, the Franciscan, the 
Dominican, the Augustinian and the Recoleto, which held 
four hundred thousand acres of the best agricultural land in 
the Islands, had won the lasting enmity of the Filipino peo- 
ple and it was absolutely impossible to establish permanent 
peace while the Friars remained and persisted in an attempt 
to return to their parishes. Hundreds of them were living 
in practical imprisonment in the monasteries of Manila, 
and that they should not be allowed to return to their 
churches throughout the Islands, from which they had been 
driven, was the one stand taken by the Filipinos from which 
they could not by any form of persuasion be moved. 

The solution of the difficulty proposed by Mr. Taft and 
his colleagues in the Philippine government was that the 
United States purchase the Friars' lands and turn them into 
a public domain on the condition that the orders objected to 
by the people be withdrawn from the Islands. 

As soon as President Pvoosevelt recognised the importance 
of accomplishing these things he decided, with charac- 
teristic directness, that somebody should go at once to Rome 
and open negotiations with the Vatican, and after consider- 
ing various men for this delicate mission he concluded that 
Mr. Taft was the man best fitted to undertake it. 

The prospect of another novel experience was exceedingly 
gratifying to me and I began at once to look forward with 
interest to a renewal of my acquaintance with Rome and to 
the trip back to the East by the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and 
the Indian Ocean which, according to Kipling, "sits an' 
smiles, so sof, so bright, so bloomin' blue." So my feet 
no longer lagged in my preparations for a long trip with my 

235 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

three children and another extended residence in the tropics. 

To assist Mr. Taft in his negotiations with the Vatican, 
and to make up a dignified and formidable looking Commis- 
sion, the President appointed Bishop O'Gorman of the Cath- 
olic diocese of South Dakota, and General James F. Smith, 
at that time a member of the Philippine judiciary and in 
later years Philippine Commissioner and Governor-General 
of the Islands. His rank of General he attained as an of- 
ficer of volunteers in the Army of Pacification in the Philip- 
pines, but, a lawyer in the beginning, after he was appointed 
to the Bench he became known as Judge Smith, and Judge 
we always called him. He is an Irish Catholic Democrat 
and a man of very sane views and exceptional ability. 
Major John Biddle Porter was made Secretary-Interpreter 
to the Commission, and Bishop Brent, Episcopal Bishop of 
the Philippines, on his way to Manila, decided to go with 
Mr. Taft, wait for him until he had completed his business 
at Rome and then continue with him the journey to the Phil- 
ippines. This was the beginning of a warm friendship be- 
tween Bishop Brent and ourselves, and no one can have lived 
in the Philippines since, or have been familiar with the affairs 
of the Islands, without knowing what a blessing his work 
and presence have been to the Philippine people, and how 
much he has aided the Government in its task. 

We engaged passage on the steamship Trave, sailing from 
New York to Gibraltar about the middle of May; the day 
for our departure was close at hand; many good-byes had 
been said; and, altogether, the immediate future was looking 
bright, when suddenly I found myself once more within the 
orbit of my unlucky star. My son Robert chose this op- 
portune moment to develop a case of scarlet fever. Of 
course that left me and the children out of all the plans and 
I was compelled to accept a hastily made arrangement which 
provided for my remaining behind and following my hus- 
band and his interesting party on a later ship. Fortunately 

236 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Robert was not with the other children when he contracted 
the disease. He was visiting friends in another part of town 
and I had him removed immediately to the Good Samaritan 
Hospital, then settled down to my vigil which might be long 
or short as fortune decreed. 

My husband's mother was in Millbury while all these 
things were transpiring and he called her up on the long dis- 
tance telephone to tell her about Bobby's illness and to say 
good-bye. 

"Then Nellie cannot go with you?' said Mrs. Taft. 

"No, I'm sorry to say she can't," said my husband. 

"But you have now an extra stateroom, have you not?" 

"Yes, Mother." 

"Well, Will, I don't think you ought to make such a trip 
alone when you are so far from strong, so I just think I'll go 
with you in Nellie's place," said my mother-in-law. 

And she did. The intrepid old lady of seventy-four 
packed her trunks and was in New York ready to sail within 
twenty-four hours, and my husband wrote that she acted 
altogether with an energy and an enterprise which filled him 
with pleasure and pride. On the steamer, and later at the 
hotel Ouirinal in Rome, she presided with dignity for more 
than a month over a table at which daily gathered a com- 
pany composed of a Colonial Governor, a Supreme Judge, 
a Roman Bishop, an Anglican Bishop and a United States 
Army officer. 

Her activity and fearlessness kept her family and friends 
in a state of astonishment a good part of the time. She 
went wherever she liked and it never seemed to occur to her 
that it was unusual for a woman of her age to travel every- 
where with so much self-reliance. She thought nothing of 
crossing the American continent every year to visit her 
daughter or sister on the Pacific Coast, and out in Manila 
we used to laugh at the possibility of her appearing on the 
scene at any moment. In fact, she very seriously considered 

237 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

coming at one time. I was glad that she could go with 
my husband to Rome because she really could be a comfort 
and a help and not at all a responsibility. 

Robert was not nearly as ill as we expected he would be 
and in a few weeks I was able to make definite plans for 
joining my husband. My sister, Mrs. Anderson, was going 
to Paris so I took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy her 
companionship on the voyage and sailed with her on the 
fourth of June, landing in France and going by train to 
Rome. 

That the record of our ill-luck may be quite complete I 
must add that on the way across the Atlantic my son Charlie 
managed to pick up whooping-cough, and that by the time 
we reached Rome he had passed it on to Helen. Her 
first remark to her father was a plaintive query: "Papa, 
why is it we can never go anywhere without catching some- 
thing?" 

I devoutly hoped that we had caught everything there 
was to catch and that we might now venture to predict a 
period of peace. 

I found my party very comfortably bestowed. They were 
occupying a whole floor at the Quirinal, the largest hotel then 
open in the city, and were keeping what appeared to me to 
be considerable "state." It looked as if they had the en- 
tire building to themselves, but that was because it was 
midsummer when few tourists visit Rome and when all 
Roman society is supposed to flock to its mountain homes 
and to northern resorts. However, midsummer though it 
was, a good many members of the "Black," or Vatican di- 
vision of society, still lingered in the city and I found them 
evincing every desire to make our stay both pleasant and 
memorable. Before I arrived Mr. Taft had already "met, 
called upon, taken tea with and dined with Cardinals, 
Princes, counts, marquises, and distinguished Englishmen 
and Americans resident in Rome," to quote from one of his 

238 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

own letters, but he had a good many things to do over 
again in my honour. He had also had an audience with 
Pope Leo XIII, and was deep in the rather distracting un- 
certainties and intricacies of his negotiations. 

He did not have the pleasure of seeing the King of Italy 
whom he had a great desire to meet, because, even though the 
American Ambassador had made all the arrangements, eti- 
quette did not permit such an audience until his relations 
with the Vatican had terminated, and by that time the King 
had gone to the military manoeuvres in North Italy. 

My husband's position was one of very great delicacy. 
By the nature of our national institutions it is not possible 
for us to send a representative to the Vatican in a diplo- 
matic capacity no matter what the emergency may be, and 
Mr. Roosevelt in sending this Commission to Rome had no 
intention that its office should be construed into a formal rec- 
ognition of the Vatican, which could not fail to raise a storm 
of protest and opposition in this country. So the instructions 
given to Mr. Taft by Secretary Root were made very defi- 
nite on this point. After reviewing the necessity for taking 
such action on the part of our government and covering the 
favourable reports on the proposed negotiations submitted 
by the Philippine Committees of the House and Senate, the 
instructions began with paragraph one : 

One of the controlling principles of our government is the com- 
plete separation of church and state, with the entire freedom of 
each from any control or interference by the other. This principle 
is imperative wherever American jurisdiction extends, and no modi- 
fication or shading thereof can be a subject of discussion. 

Following this in numbered paragraphs, a tentative plan 
for the adjustment of the Friar difficulties is outlined and the 
instructions end with paragraph nine : 

Your errand will not be in any sense or degree diplomatic in its 
nature, but will be purely a business matter of negotiation by you 

239 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

as Governor of the Philippines for the purchase of property from 
the owners thereof, and the settlement of land titles in such a man- 
ner as to contribute to the best interests of the people of the 
Islands. 

These instructions were easier to receive than to carry 
out, since from the beginning the Vatican made every pos- 
sible effort to give the mission a diplomatic aspect and to 
cast upon it the glamour of great official solemnity, and Mr. 
Taft had constantly to keep his mind alert to the danger 
of accidental acquiescence in a misinterpretation of his posi- 
tion. To take a position which would soothe the feelings 
of American Catholics and yet not shock the conscience of 
any Protestant was something like being ground between 
the proverbial millstones. However, Cardinal Rampolla 
very graciously met the businesslike ideas of the Commission 
and arranged a private audience with Pope Leo at which the 
propositions of the Philippine government were to be out- 
lined to him. 

My husband's memory of this now historic mission to 
Rome seems to include little which was not directly con- 
nected with the business in hand, but Judge Smith displays a 
more impressionable bent. In answer to an inquiry as to 
what he recalls of the visit he wrote Mr. Taft a most interest- 
ing letter. All his memoranda of the trip, including letters, 
journals and souvenirs, were destroyed in the San Francisco 
fire, but he says: 

"After our arrival there was a long wait that arrange- 
ments might be made for an audience with the Holy Father, 
but finally the date was fixed and the Commission, at high 
noon, in evening dress and top hats, went to the Vatican and 
passed up the long staircase, lined with Swiss Guards, which 
leads to the State apartments. We were received by the 
Chamberlain and several other functionaries and were con- 
ducted from one apartment to another until finally we were 
ushered into the presence of Leo XIII, to whom you made 

240 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

a statement of the matters which were to be made the subject 
of negotiation. 

'This statement had been previously translated into 
French by Bishop O'Gorman and Colonel Porter, and you 
will remember there were some things about Bishop O'Gor- 
man's French which did not meet with the entire approval 
of Colonel Porter. Whether you arbitrated the matter and 
selected the appropriate phrase which should have been used 
I do not know, but I do know that at one time there was 
danger of the severance of the friendly relations which had 
theretofore prevailed between the good Bishop and the good 
old Colonel. 

"My recollection of the Holy Father is that his face was 
like transparent parchment, that he had the brilliant eyes 
of a young man and that he was wonderfully alert of mind, 
although bent over by the weight of years. 

"Of course, none of us could forget Cardinal Rampolla, 
— tall, slender, straight, vigorous in both mind and body, 
impenetrable, and cold as fate. A man evidently of wonder- 
ful intellect and fully equal to any demands that might be 
put upon him as the diplomat of the Vatican." 

I might add that the first part of my husband's speech, 
a copy of which I have, consisted of a few remarks appro- 
priate to the presentation of a gift from President Roosevelt 
to the Pope. This gift was a specially bound set of Mr. 
Roosevelt's own works. 

When the formal interview was at an end the Pope came 
down from the dais on which he sat and indulged in a fifteen 
or twenty minute personal conversation with the members of 
the Commission. "He asked for the pleasure of shaking my 
hand," writes my husband to his brother Charles, in the 
usual vein of humour which obtains between them, adding, 
"a privilege which I very graciously accorded him." He 
also joked about Mr. Taft's proportions, saying that he had 
understood he had been very ill, but from observation he saw 

241 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

no reason to suppose that the illness had been serious. He 
poked gentle fun at Bishop O'Gorman and made kindly in- 
quiries of Judge Smith and Major Porter; then he walked 
with the party to the door and bowed them out, a courtesy 
which I believe was unprecedented. 

"He had a great deal more vigour of motion," writes Mr. 
Taft, "and a great deal more resonance of voice than I had 
been led to suppose. I had thought him little more than a 
lay figure, but he was full of lively interest and gesture, and 
when my address was being read he smiled and bowed his 
head in acquiescence." 

"We visited the catacombs," says Judge Smith, "St. 
Peter's, St. Paul's beyond the walls, and a few of the basil- 
icas of ancient Rome now dedicated to Christian worship. 
The Borghese and various other art galleries left their im- 
pression, as did some of the interesting old palaces, notably 
the one which was then threatening to fall into the Tiber, 
and the ceiling of which bears the famous fresco of Cupid 
and Psyche. 

"One day during our first wait we had dinner out at the 
American College as guests of Monsignor Kennedy, where 
you (Mr. Taft) made a speech which brought much applause 
from the students in red cassocks, and everybody was happy. 
After dinner some of us made a visit to a villa by the Orsini 
on the hills overlooking the Campagna, which villa had 
recently been purchased by the college as a summer home. 

"You will remember our call on Cardinal Martinelli and 
the dinner we had with good old Cardinal Satolli who took 
such a pride in the wine produced by his own vineyards, a 
wine, by the way, which was not unreservedly approved by 
the owners of other vineyards. One of the most delightful 
experiences of all was our dinner with the good Episcopal 
Rector, Dr. Nevin, when ox-tongue done in the Russian 
style was served as the piece de resistance. You cannot for- 

242 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

get how shocked were some of the circles in Rome to find 
Bishop O'Gorman and myself at such a festal board under 
such circumstances, and how Pope Leo showed his thorough 
understanding of American institutions by saying that Amer- 
ican Catholics might very properly do things which would 
be very much misunderstood if done by Romans. The 
Episcopal Rector was a mighty hunter, a great traveller, and 
gifted with a fund of anecdote which made him a most de- 
lightful host." 

I found this highly social and sociable party rather im- 
patiently awaiting a reply to their formal, written proposals 
to the Vatican which had been turned over to a Commis- 
sion of Cardinals. They were giving a fine imitation of 
outward leisurely poise, but among themselves they were 
expressing very definite opinions of the seemingly deliberate 
delays to which they were being subjected. Mr. Taft was 
anxious to sail for Manila on the loth of July, and already 
had his passage booked on the Koenig Albert, but the im- 
mediate prospect seemed to be that he would be held in Rome 
for the rest of the summer. 

He did not have the greatest confidence that he would 
succeed in the mission which meant so much to his future 
course in the Islands, and, indeed, it was quite evident that 
he would not succeed without prolonged effort to be con- 
tinued after he left Rome. The various Cardinals lost no 
opportunity to assure him that the Vatican was in full sym- 
pathy with the proposals made and that he might expect 
a very early and satisfactory termination of the- business, 
but he decided not to believe anything until he should see 
the signatures to the contract. The factions and the poli- 
tics of the Vatican were most perplexing. The monastic 
orders were the conservative element in the negotiations7 
being willing enough to sell the Friars' lands at a valuation 
to be decided upon by a board of five members, two repre- 
senting the church, two representing the United States gov- 

243 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ernment and the fifth to be selected from some other coun- 
try, but they were not willing to consent to the withdrawal 
of the Friars from the Philippine Islands. Then there were 
wheels within wheels; Papal candidates and candidates for 
Cardinals who thrust into the negotiations considerations 
for agreeing or not agreeing which greatly puzzled the 
purely business-like representatives of the American govern- 
ment. 

But I was not particularly annoyed by the delay. I 
found much to interest me in Rome, and I saw my husband 
improving in general health and gaining the strength he 
needed for a re-encounter with the difficulties in tropic 
Manila. Prominent Republican leaders had aroused his 
impatience at different times by publicly announcing that, 
in all probability, he was "going out to the Philippines to 
die." He wrote to his brother from Rome: 

"I dislike being put in such an absurd position before the 
country as that of playing the martyr. I'm not asking any 
favours on account of health or any other cause, nor am I 
taking the position that I am making any sacrifice. I think 
that a great and unusual opportunity has been offered me 
and if I can improve it, all well and good, but I don't want 
any sympathy or emotional support." 

He was easily aroused to resentment on the subject, but, 
just the same, it was gratifying to observe him quite rapidly 
regaining his normal vigour and buoyancy. 

My mother-in-law was having a most wonderful time. 
She was comfortably established at the Ouirinal in rooms 
next to ours, and was enjoying the devoted attention of 
every man in the party whether he wore ecclesiastical frock, 
military uniform or plain citizens' clothes. She went every- 
where and saw everything and was as indefatigable in her 
enjo3^ment as any of us. She met old-time friends whom 
she had known when she and Judge Taft were in the 
diplomatic corps abroad, and with them she indulged in 

244 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

pleasant reminiscence. After I arrived she became more 
energetic than ever and led me a lively pace at sightseeing 
and shopping, because, as she wrote to another daughter-in- 
law, Mrs. Horace Taft, "Nellie is not at all timid and as she 
speaks French we can go anywhere." 

I soon found that in spite of official and personal protest to 
the contrary we were considered quite important personages, 
and the elaborate hospitality we were offered kept us busy 
at nearly all hours when hospitality is at all in order. 
There were teas and luncheons, dinners and receptions, and 
functions of every description, and we met a great many 
renowned and interesting people, both Roman and foreign. 
Mr. W. T. Stead, the correspondent for the London 
Times who was lost on the Titanic, was one of them. 
Then there was Mr. Laffan, proprietor of the New York 
Sun, and Mrs. Laffan, and Dr. Hillis of Brooklyn who was 
in Rome with his son. An attractive personality, who in- 
terested us very much and whose hospitality we enjoyed, 
was Princess Rospigliosi, the wife of an Italian nobleman, 
who lived in an enchanting house. She had a very beautiful 
daughter who was at that time keenly interested in the con- 
troversy as to whether or not Catholics should vote in Rome. 
She was strongly in favour of their doing so and, with ex- 
traordinary directness, carried her advocacy straight to the 
Pope and insisted that it was a great mistake for Cath- 
olics not to take advantage of the ballot and by that means 
secure the political rights to which they were entitled. 
Pope Leo, although very much impressed by what she said, 
insisted that it was not yet time to urge the reform suggested, 
.and wound up by saying, "My good daughter, you go al- 
together too fast for me !" I don't doubt that by this time 
the young Princess is a warm supporter of woman's suffrage. 

Also, we were entertained by a Mr. McNutt who had been 
in our diplomatic corps at one time in Madrid and Con- 
stantinople, at another time had been tutor to the sons of the 

245 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Khedive of Egypt, and was then one of the Papal Chamber- 
lains. He had married a woman of wealth, a Miss Ogden 
of New York. 

Mr. McNutt had one of the most elaborate and beau- 
tiful palaces I ever saw. He had studied the customs of 
Roman society in the picturesque days of the Medicis and the 
Borgias, had rented the Pamphili Palace and restored it to 
its pristine glory, and it was here that he entertained us at 
a dinner, with cards afterward. 

I felt like an actor in a mediaeval pageant whose costume 
had not been delivered in time for the performance. Cardi- 
nals in their gorgeous robes, with gold snuff-boxes, gave to 
the scene a high colour among the soberer tones of Bishops 
and Archbishops and uniformed Ambassadors. Then there 
were Princes and Princesses and other nobilities of Roman 
society, the men displaying gay ribands and decorations, 
the women in elaborate costumes, and all in a "stage setting" 
as far removed from modernity as a magnificent old-world 
palace could be. To make this reproduction of old customs 
complete our host made a point of having liveried attend- 
ants with flaming torches to light the Cardinals to and from 
their carriages. 

Before I reached Rome, Mr. Taft and his associates had 
been present at a Papal consistory at which the Pope pre- 
sided over the College of Cardinals. They were the guests 
of the Pope and occupied the Diplomatic Box. I was sorry 
to miss this exceptional privilege, but we were given ample 
opportunities for seeing and hearing several noteworthy 
religious festivals both at St. Peter's and the church of St. 
John of Lateran. I was educated in the strictest Presby- 
terianism, while my husband's mother was a Unitarian, and 
Puritan in her training and in all her instincts. We could 
not help feeling that we had been led into a prominent 
position in a strange environment. But, unshaken though we 
were in our religious affiliations, we appreciated the real 

246 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

beauty of the ceremonies and knew that we should rejoice 
in the unusual privilege accorded us which would never be 
ours again. 

It was near the end of our stay in Rome that we had our 
audience with the Pope, — Mrs. Taft, Robert, Helen and I. 
I wore a black afternoon gown with a black veil on my head, 
while Mrs. Taft wore her widow's veil as usual. Helen, I 
dressed in white and, to her very great excitement, she wore 
a white lace veil. Bishop O' Gorman accompanied us and 
when we reached the door of the Vatican under the colon- 
nade at the right of St. Peter's, we were met by some mem- 
bers of the Swiss Guard in their curious uniforms, conducted 
through endless corridors and rich apartments until we came 
to a small waiting-room where we were left for a few mo- 
ments by ourselves. We had only time to adjust our veils 
and compose ourselves when the door on one side opened 
and we were ceremoniously ushered into the presence of Leo 
XIII who sat on a low chair under a simple canopy at the 
far end of the room. He rose to greet us as we entered, 
and as we were presented one by one he extended his hand 
over which we each bowed as we received his blessing. 

He began speaking to me in French and finding that I 
could answer him in that language he talked with me for per- 
haps half an hour with a most charmingly graceful manner of 
comment and compliment. He spoke of Mr. Roosevelt's 
present and wished that he knew English so that he might 
read the books. He referred to Mr. Roosevelt as "President 
Roomvine" which was as near as he seemed to be able to get 
to that very un-Latin name; said that he himself, in his 
youth, had been devoted to the chase and would like very 
much to read "The Strenuous Life." 

Later he called Robert to his side and gave him a special 
blessing, saying that he hoped the little boy would follow 
in the footsteps of McKinley and Roosevelt. He asked 
Bob what he expected to be when he grew up and my self- 

247 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

confident son replied that he intended to be Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court. I suppose he had heard the Chief 
Justiceship talked about by his father until he thought it the 
only worthy ambition for a self-respecting citizen to enter- 
tain. 

When we arose to go, His Holiness escorted us to the door 
and bowed us out with a kindly smile in his fine young eyes 
that I shall never forget. 

Shortly after this I left Rome. It was getting hot and 
my husband persuaded me to take the children away, prom- 
ising to join us for a short breath of mountain air before he 
sailed for Manila. It had been decided that I should remain 
in Europe for a month or so and I was to choose the place 
best suited for recuperation. I went first to Florence for a 
week, then to the Grande Albergo Castello de Aquabella at 
Vallombrosa. The sonorous name of this hotel should have 
been a sufficient warning to me of the expense of living there, 
but I was not in a mood to anticipate any kind of unpleasant 
experience. 

It is a beautiful place reached by a funicular railway from 
a station about fifteen miles from Florence, and is where 
Milton wrote parts of Paradise Lost. The hotel was an old 
castle remodelled, and as we were almost the only guests and 
were attended by relays of most obsequious servants we 
managed to feel quite baronial. We spent our time being 
as lazy as we liked, or driving in the dense black forests of 
pine which cover the mountains and through vistas of which 
we could catch fascinating glimpses of the beautiful, town- 
dotted valley of the Arno some thousands of feet below. 

On the 20th of July my husband came up and joined us 
in this delightful retreat. He had just received his final 
answer from the Vatican and, while he was disappointed 
at not being able to settle the matter then, he was hopeful 
that a way had been found which, though it would entail 
much future labour, would lead to a satisfactory solution 

248 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of the problems. An Apostolic Delegate, representing the 
Vatican, was to be sent to Manila to continue the negotia- 
tions on the ground, and Pope Leo assured Mr. Taft that 
he would receive instructions to bring about such an adjust- 
ment as the United States desired. This assurance was car- 
ried out, but only after Leo's long pontificate had come to an 
end. 

The final note was written by Cardinal Rampolla who 
rendered "homage to the great courtesy and high capacity" 
with which Mr. Taft had filled "the delicate mission," and 
closed by declaring his willingness to concede that "the 
favourable result" must in a large measure be attributed 
to my husband's "high personal qualities." 

I had hoped to have Mr. Taft with us at Vallombrosa 
for a week or so before he sailed, but the time allotted in our 
plans for this was taken up by delays in Rome, so that 
when he did arrive he had only twenty-four hours to stay. 
His final audience with the Pope was arranged for the fol- 
lowing Monday, there were a number of minor details to be 
attended to, and he was to sail Thursday morning from 
Naples on the Princess Irene, to which he had been obliged 
to transfer from the Koenig Albert. 

The last audience with His Holiness consisted chiefly in 
an exchange of compliments and expressions of thanks for 
courtesies extended, but it had additional interest in that the 
Pope chose to make it the occasion for personally presenting 
to the members of the party certain small gifts, or souvenirs, 
which he had selected for them. He had previously sent 
an inquiry through Bishop O' Gorman as to whether or 
not the Commissioners would accept decorations, but Mr. 
Taft replied that the American constitution forbids the ac- 
ceptance of such honours without the consent of Congress, 
so nothing more was said about it. 

The presents he did receive were a handsome Jubilee 
medal displaying a portrait of His Holiness in bas relief, 

249 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and a gold pen in the form of a large feather with the 
papal arms on it. To me the Pope sent a small piece of 
old German enamel showing a copy of an ancient picture of 
St. Ursula and her virgins, framed in silver and gold beau- 
tifully wrought. Smaller gold medals were given to each 
of the other Commissioners, while President Roosevelt re- 
ceived a copy in mosaic of a picture of a view of Rome from 
a corner in the Vatican gardens in which the Pope is seen 
seated with three or four Cardinals in attendance. This, 
together with letters from His Holiness and Cardinal Ram- 
polla to the President and Mr. Hay, the Secretary of State, 
was given to Bishop O'Gorman to be delivered when he 
arrived in the United States. 

My husband sailed from Naples on the 24th of July, and 
I, with the three children and their French governess, started 
north by Venice and Vienna to spend a few weeks in the 
mountains of Switzerland before returning to Manila. 

There were rather terrifying reports of a cholera epidemic 
raging in the Philippines and I dreaded the prospects of 
going into it with my children, but I knew that heroic efforts 
were being made to check it and I felt confident that, in 
Manila at least, it would have run its course before I should 
arrive, so I booked passage on the German steamer Hamburg 
and on the 3rd of September sailed for the East and the 
tropics once more. 



250 



CHAPTER XII 

LAST DAYS IN THE PHILIPPINES 

When Mr. Taft reached Manila he found the city en fete 
and in a state of intense excitement which had prevailed for 
two days during which the people had expected every hour 
to hear the great siren on the cold storage plant announce 
that the little A lava, the government coastguard boat which 
had been sent to Singapore to get him, had been sighted off 
Corregidor. 

When the announcement finally came, everything in the 
harbour that could manage to do so steamed down the Bay 
to meet him, and when the launch to which he had trans- 
ferred from the A lava came up to the mouth of the Pasig 
River and under the walls of old Fort Santiago, seventeen 
guns boomed out a Governor's salute, while whistles and 
bells and sirens all over the bay and river and city filled the 
air with a deafening din. 

Wherever his eyes rested he saw people, — crowding win- 
dows, roofs, river banks and city walls, all of them cheering 
wildly and waving hats or handkerchiefs. And the thing 
which moved him most was the fact that the welcoming 
throng was not just representative of the wealthy and edu- 
cated class, but included thousands of the people, barefooted 
and in calicoes, who had come in from the neighbouring and 
even the far provinces to greet him. 

Mrs. Moses asked Mr. Benito Legarda, one of the Fili- 
pino members of the Commission, whether or not there 
had ever been a like demonstration in honour of the arrival 
of a Spanish Governor, and his answer was: 

"Yes, there were demonstrations always, but the govern- 
ment paid the expenses." 

In this case the very opposite was true. The government 
had no money to waste on celebrations and all government 

251 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

buildings, such as the City Hall, the Post Office and the 
Ayuntamiento, were conspicuously bare. Their nakedness 
was positively eloquent of economy in the midst of the riot 
of gay bunting, the flags, the pennants and the palm leaves 
in which the rest of the city was smothered. Then there 
were extraordinary and elaborate arches spanning the streets 
through which the Governor was to be conducted. One of 
these, erected by the Partido Federal, displayed a huge al- 
legorical picture which had a peculiar significance. Filipina, 
a lovely lady draped in flowing gauze, was seen, in an atti- 
tude which combined appeal with condescension, presenting 
to Columbia a single star, implying that she desired to be 
accepted as one of the States of the Union. 

I am indebted to the descriptive art of Mrs. Moses, to 
photographs and to my own knowledge of the Filipino way 
of doing things for the mental picture I have of this cele- 
bration. 

At the landing near the Custom House my husband found 
a great procession in line, ready to escort him to the Ayun- 
tamiento where the speeches of welcome were to be made. 
There were regiments of cavalry, infantry and artillery, as 
well as platoon after platoon of native and American police 
with as many bands as there were divisions of the procession. 
Picked men from the volunteer regiments acted as a special 
guard for the Governor's carriage and they must have added 
much to the impressive array, because I know of my own 
observation that the volunteers were always as fine a looking 
body of men as it would be possible to find anywhere. 

When Mr. Taft reached the Ayuntamiento he listened 
to glowing speeches of tribute and welcome in the Marble 
Hall, then he stood for hours shaking hands with the 
people who, in orderly file, passed in and out of the building 
which was large enough to hold only a very small fraction 
of them. When this was over and his audience had settled 
down he proceeded to tell them in a clear and simple way all 

252 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

about his experiences in Rome and how far the negotiations 
with the Vatican had proceeded. This was a matter of 
paramount importance to the Filipinos and they listened 
with an intensity of interest which Mr. Taft said seemed to 
promise serious consequences if the business could not be 
carried to a successful conclusion. 

However, despite the joy and festivity with which he was 
greeted upon his return, the Governor did not find general 
conditions in the islands either prosperous or happy. 

Everything that could possibly happen to a country had 
happened or was happening. The cholera epidemic was 
still raging, and while it had abated to a considerable ex- 
tent in Manila it was at its worst in Iloilo and other prov- 
inces. There had been from seventy to eighty cases a day 
in Manila for a long time, and the quarantine regulations 
had incensed the ignorant people to a point where force had 
to be used to secure obedience. They did not understand 
sanitary measures and wanted none of them; they clung to 
their superstitious beliefs, and were easily made to accept 
as truth wild statements to the effect that the Americans were 
poisoning the wells and rivers and had stopped transporta- 
tion and business with the sole purpose of starving or other- 
wise destroying the entire population. Even the educated 
ones were not without their time-honoured prejudices in this 
regard, for while Mr. Taft was in Rome he receive a cabled 
protest from Filipino members of the Commission with a re- 
quest that he order the quarantine raised. 

When he arrived in Manila the cholera cases had fallen 
to between ten and twenty a day and business had been re- 
sumed to a certain extent, but the situation was still critical 
and a fresh outbreak on account of polluted water was to be 
expected at any time. All the sources of water supply were 
patrolled by American soldiers day and night and every pre- 
caution was taken; whole sections of the city were burned 
in an attempt to stamp out the pestilence, but the disease 

2 53 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

had to run its course and it was months before it was com- 
pletely eradicated. 

While the people were dying of cholera the carabaos, the 
only draught and farm animals in the Islands, were dying by 
thousands of an epidemic of rinderpest. This scourge, too, 
was fought with all the force of both the civil and military 
arms of the government, but before it could be checked it had 
carried off a large majority of the carabaos in the Archi- 
pelago with the result that agriculture and all other indus- 
tries dependent upon this mode of transportation were 
paralysed. A general drought in China made a rice famine 
a practical certainty, even if the people should have money 
to buy rice, so the future looked black indeed. 

The cholera and rinderpest had greatly reduced govern- 
ment revenues and many plans for much needed public works 
had to be modified or abandoned, while the condition of the 
currency added to the general chaos. There was no gold 
standard and the fluctuations in the value of silver made it 
necessary for the Governor to issue a proclamation about 
once a week fixing a new rate of exchange. In this way it 
was calculated that the government, with insufficient income 
at the best, lost a round million dollars gold during a period 
of ten months. 

To cap all and add exasperation to uneasiness the ladrones 
had become increasingly active with hard times and were 
harrying the districts around Manila to such an extent that 
the people were in constant terror. The ravages of the rin- 
derpest had made the carabao a very valuable animal and 
the chief object of the ladrones was to steal such as were left 
and drive them off to be sold in distant provinces. Nor 
were they at all particular about their highwaymen's 
methods or chary of sacrificing human life. There was a 
veritable hotbed of ladronism at Caloocan, a suburb of 
Manila, which was augmented by the roughs and toughs 
from the crowded and miserable districts in the lower city, 

254 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

while across the Bay in Cavite province, known as the 
"mother of insurrection," there were several hundred rifles 
in the hands of marauders who hid away in the hills and 
jungles and made conditions such that Mr. Taft was asked 
by the Director of Constabulary to suspend the writ of ha- 
beas corpus, thus declaring the province in a practical state of 
siege. Mr. Taft would not do this, saying that he thought 
the only course was to "hammer away with the constabulary 
until the abuse was stamped out by the regular methods of 
supposedly peaceful times," but the worst feature of the 
situation was that wherever ladronism showed its head there 
would be cohorts of "irreconcilables" — posing in every-day 
life as loyal citizens — ready, within the limits of personal 
safety, to encourage and assist it. Anything to hamper and 
harass the government. 

Shortly after Mr. Taft's arrival in Manila, the vice-Gov- 
ernor, General Wright, and Mrs. Wright left the Islands for 
a well-earned vacation and my husband wrote that the 
amount of work which confronted him was staggering. He 
took on General Wright's department in addition to his 
own duties, and if it hadn't been that he had at least 
half way learned not to try to "hurry the East" he probably 
would not have lasted long. 

Among the first steps to be taken was to provide against 
the inevitable famine, and to do this it was necessary for 
the Government to send to China and Saigon for large quan- 
tities of rice to be stored in public godowns. They bought 
and brought to Manila something like forty million pounds 
of this first of all necessities to an oriental people, and the 
intention was to sell it at cost when the market supply began 
to run low and prices began to soar beyond the poor man's 
reach. A certain degree of paternalism has always been, 
is now, and probably always will be necessary in the govern- 
ment of the Filipino people. 

Mr. Taft besought the United States Congress to appro- 

255 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

prlate a sum to be used for the importation of work animals, 
for the purchase of rice and the furnishing of work on pub- 
lic improvements. The animals were not to be given 
away, but were eventually to be sold at reasonable prices. 
Three millions were appropriated and spent. 

Congress was also petitioned to establish a gold standard 
of currency, and this too was done, to the inexpressible relief 
of everybody interested in the Philippine welfare, in the 
following January. The currency now is as sound as our 
own, every silver peso, which corresponds to the old "dollar 
Mex," being worth fifty cents gold. 

When I arrived in Manila in early October I found the 
situation more interesting than it had ever been, even though 
it was distracting to the men who had to deal with it. My 
first necessity was, of course, to settle myself once more at 
Malacanan. During my absence the old Palace had been 
all done over, painted and patched and cleaned and redec- 
orated until it was quite unlike its quaint, old dilapidated 
self. Some of the colours were a shade too pronounced and 
some of the decorations ran a little more to "graceful pat- 
terns" than suited my taste, but I was glad of the added com- 
fort and cleanliness. 

It was difficult in the beginning to accustom myself to 
cholera conditions. The disease was communicated to very 
few Americans or other white foreigners, but safety was se- 
cured at the price of eternal vigilance. Water could not 
be drunk unless it was boiled under one's personal super- 
vision; nothing uncooked could be eaten, not even a piece of 
imported fruit, unless it had first been washed in a carbolic 
solution, a process, I may say, which added nothing desirable 
to its flavour; a good many other precautions were necessary 
which made us feel as if we were living always in the lower- 
ing shadow of some dreadful catastrophe, but, even so, we 
were surprisingly calm about it — everybody was — and 

256 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

managed to come through the experience without any visible 
ill-effects. 

There was one new thing for me, and that was a live cow. 
For two long years we had manfully striven to make our- 
selves believe that we liked canned milk and condensed 
cream just as much as we liked the fresh milk we had been 
used to all our lives. In fact, we were fond of declaring 
that we couldn't tell the difference. But we could. And in 
our secret hearts we all welcomed as the most delectable 
treat an occasional gift of skimmed milk from a friend who 
had been a pioneer in the momentous venture of importing 
an Australian cow. 

The importation of our cow was a real event, and she 
straightway took up a position of great dignity and impor- 
tance in our establishment. She roamed at will about the 
grounds of the Palace and her general conduct was the sub- 
ject of daily comment in the family circle. A number of 
people brought in cows about this time, but very few of them 
lived long enough to prove their dairy worth. Our cow 
flourished and gave forth large quantities of milk, and this 
fact became the subject of what was supposed to be a huge 
joke. 

Mr. Worcester, who was the high chief health author- 
ity in the Islands, decreed that all animals as they were 
brought in should be inoculated for rinderpest, tuberculosis, 
and a number of other things, — "including prickly heat," 
said General Wright, — but it just so happened that a great 
majority of these scientifically treated beasts died almost im- 
mediately, and General Wright could always arouse the 
wrath of Mr. Worcester — a thing he loved to do — by sug- 
gesting that the only reason our cow lived was because "she 
had not been inoculated." 

The presence of the cow having given me a true farmer 
spirit — at least, I suppose it was the cow — I decided to have 

257 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

a garden. There were very few vegetables that the Fili- 
pinos knew how to raise at that time, and our longing for 
fresh things was constant and intense. I selected a promis- 
ing looking spot behind the Palace, had it prepared for plant- 
ing, then I bought a supply of fresh American seeds and care- 
fully buried them in places where I thought they might 
develop into something. The result was positively astonish- 
ing. The soil was rich and the sun was hot, and in an incred- 
ibly short time we were having quantities of beans and cauli- 
flower and big red tomatoes and all kinds of things. 

My ambition grew with success and I branched out into 
poultry. The first thing anybody knew I had a big screened 
yard full of chickens and turkeys little and big, which were 
a source of great enjoyment to us all both in their noisy 
feathered state in the chicken yard and done up in a variety 
of Ah Sing styles on our very well supplied table. I won- 
der how my cook made up the "squeeze" out of which he 
was cheated by my industry and thrift. 

But, dwelling on these minor details I am getting far 
ahead of my story. There were many things in the mean- 
while engaging my attention, the most important of which, I 
suppose, was the great church schism. 

Gregorio Aglipay, an Ilocano priest of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church, joined the original insurrection against Spain, or 
the Friars rather, at its inception and was excommunicated. 
He became an insurgent leader with a reputation for 
great cruelty, and continued in the field against Spain, 
and subsequently against the United States, until re- 
sistance was no longer possible. He was among the 
last insurrecto chiefs to surrender in northern Luzon. When 
peace was restored he began immediately to solicit the in- 
terest and aid of other Filipino priests, of politicians and 
influential men in a plan for organising an Independent Fili- 
pino Catholic Church, and his temporary success must have 
surprised even him. 

258 




* Hi* cofcntftr In. «. Trt * El Ptrtiib FWriJ 




ARCH ERECTED BY THE PART1DO FEDERAL REPRESENTING 

FILIPINA OFFERING ANOTHER STAR TO THE 

AMERICAN FLAG 



/ 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

While the people loved Catholicism, the failure of the 
Vatican to accede to their wishes with respect to the Friars, 
as expressed by the American Commission to Rome, added 
impetus to the rebellious movement and when the announce- 
ment of the new organisation was made it was found to be 
based on the strongest kind of support. Aglipay consti- 
tuted himself Obispo Maximo, assumed a fine regalia, and 
conferred upon fifteen or more of his lieutenants the regular 
church dignities and titles of a lesser order. He offered the 
people the same ceremonies, the same relief, the same con- 
fessional, and the same faith generally to which they had 
always been accustomed, so they found it easy enough to 
transfer their allegiance, and the new church gained adher- 
ents with such startling rapidity that it seemed as if a ma- 
jority of the population would go over to it. 

The result may easily be imagined. The Roman Catholic 
organisation had controlled Philippine affairs, both temporal 
and spiritual, for so long that the possibility of a rebellion 
of this character had never been thought of. Every loyal 
Catholic, and especially every bishop and priest and friar, 
was horrified, and an almost frantic controversy began to 
rage about the devoted head of the civil Governor as soon as 
he arrived in Manila. He was appealed to to take drastic 
action to suppress the movement and because he could do 
nothing even to check it the American government was re- 
viled in the Catholic press as it had never been reviled before. 
Mr. Taft calmly met the storm with an iteration and reitera- 
tion of American principles of religious toleration, and de- 
clared that he had neither right nor wish to try to direct the 
religious inclinations of the people, and that all he could 
do in the matter was to enforce the keeping of the peace. 

The people had been taught by Aglipay and his fellow- 
conspirators, and, indeed, by the whole history of church 
buildings in the Islands, that church properties belonged to 
the people and that if they wished to do so it was right for 

259 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

them to oust the regularly constituted priests from the 
churches and to turn these edifices over to the Independent 
body. This the government would not allow, holding that 
any dispute over property rights must be settled by due proc- 
ess of law. A few riots ensued wherein the constabulary 
and police came in violent contact with the Aglipayanos, but 
the Filipino is quick to recognise justice, and this decree of 
the government was very readily given general acceptance. 

Mr. Taft was repeatedly warned by the allies of Rome 
that the movement was nothing but a cloak for the worst in- 
surrection against the government that the Filipinos had yet 
attempted, and this suspicion was somewhat strengthened by 
the fact that many of the least tractable insurrecto leaders 
were among its directors, but in the main the schismatics 
evinced every desire to obey the injunction laid upon them 
not to resort to incendiary methods. And it was thought 
that the treatment they received in return would probably do 
more than all the preaching in the world to convince them 
that under American sovereignty they were actually to enjoy 
complete religious freedom. 

Liberty to take possession of property by force was denied 
them, but liberty to think and worship as they pleased was 
not only given them, but in the peaceful exercise of this 
liberty they even enjoyed police protection, and this was a 
never-before-heard-of thing which gave them food for very 
serious thought. Under Spanish dominion Aglipay would 
have been taken to the Luneta and shot as Jose Rizal was 
shot, and his followers would have met and mourned in 
secret, but the American authorities held, according to Ameri- 
can beliefs, that an Aglipayan, or independent Catholic or- 
ganisation, had as much right to parade in the streets with 
candles and images as had the Roman Catholic or any other 
religious body. 

Mr. Taft had vaguely suggested the possibility of some 
such development as this during his visit to the Vatican, 

260 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

but it made no impression. However, now that it had come, 
it gave the American Commission some advantage in the 
Friars and Friars' lands negotiations because it was sure to 
convince the Vatican that the case of the Friars was hope- 
less and so inspire speedier action than might otherwise be 
hoped for. 

In the midst of it all the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop 
Guidi of Stauropoli, arrived from Rome ! He was an Ital- 
ian, very friendly and tolerant, with neither fanatic nor 
ascetic tendencies. He was by no means adverse to tak- 
ing part in any kind of social gaiety and I remember that 
at one of our first entertainments after his arrival he ex- 
pressed great regret that he could not join in the Rig o don, 
I came to enjoy association with him exceedingly. 

At one of my first receptions that season quite a dramatic 
scene occurred in the ballroom. A thousand or more peo- 
ple, perhaps, had passed the receiving line. Monsignor 
Guidi came in all his stately regalia, and shortly afterward 
Aglipay put in an appearance. The people wandered 
around all over the place, circulating through the spacious 
gardens and around the verandahs, so there was a possibility 
that these two would not meet even though they were both 
very conspicuous figures. But it was not long before the 
Papal Delegate hurried up to Mr. Taft and, in a state of 
visible excitement, inquired who the stranger in the striking 
religious garb might be. 

"That," said Mr. Taft, "is Aglipay." 

"But, you know," said the Monsignor, "it is impossible 
for you to receive him here when I am present!" 

Then Mr. Taft once more laboriously explained the 
standpoint of the American government, saying that Agli- 
pay was in his house in his private capacity as a citizen, that 
he had as much right there as any other citizen, and that it 
would not be possible to ask him to leave as long as he 
conducted himself as a guest should. 

261 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"Then, I shall have to go," said Monsignor Guidi. 

"I am very sorry," said Mr. Taft. "I understand your 
position perfectly and I trust you understand mine as well." 

So the highest of insular Church dignitaries got his hat 
and hastened away while the "renegade and impious im- 
postor" remained — in serene unconsciousness of the disturb- 
ance he had created? Perhaps not. At least he was se- 
rene. 

But our relations with Monsignor Guidi continued most 
agreeable during our entire stay in the Islands. Mr. Taft 
thought very highly of him as a man and an ecclesiastical 
statesman and diplomat and greatly regretted his death 
which occurred after we left the Islands. Through him, 
the question of the Friars' lands was settled as Pope Leo 
had told Mr. Taft it would be, satisfactorily to the United 
States. To bring that story, which was distractingly long 
drawn out in reality, to a close, I will merely add that the 
government succeeded in purchasing the Friars' lands for 
the sum of $7,000,000; they were turned into a public 
domain to be sold under most encouraging conditions, to 
their tenants and others who wished to acquire homesteads. 
The Friars were not sent back to the parishes and many left 
the Islands. 

However this was not brought about without the pro- 
tracted exercise of patience and diplomacy in the very midst 
of which the long arm of Washington reached out and 
touched my busy husband on the shoulder. He came home 
one day with a puzzled air and a cablegram from President 
Roosevelt. This cablegram read, in part: 

Taft, Manila. On January first there will be a vacancy on the 
Supreme Court to which I earnestly desire to appoint you. ... I 
feel that your duty is on the Court unless you have decided not 
to adopt a judicial career. I greatly hope you will accept. Would 
appreciate early answer. 

Roosevelt. 
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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

This came before I had been in the Islands a month and 
when Mr. Taft was so deep in the complications of his 
work that he was almost a stranger to his friends. 

There was an accompanying cablegram from Secretary- 
Root strongly urging acceptance on the score of my hus- 
band's impaired health. Mr. Root declared that he was 
most unwilling to lose his services in the Philippines, but 
thought it better for him "not to take any serious risk of 
breaking down and having to leave the Islands an invalid 
even after a considerable period of further service." As 
Mr. Taft was feeling particularly well and was taking daily 
exercise and keeping himself in excellent condition this 
sounded rather like anticipating a very unlikely calamity, 
but the last time Mr. Root had seen him he was anything 
but robust so it was easy to understand the Secretary's 
friendly concern for him. 

What to do? This was not a question which gave Mr. 
Taft even a shade of hesitation, because he knew imme- 
diately what he must do. All his life his first ambition had 
been to attain the Supreme Bench. To him it meant the 
crown of the highest career that a man can seek, and he 
wanted it as strongly as a man can ever want anything. 
But now that the opportunity had come acceptance was not 
to be thought of. I had always been opposed to a judicial 
career for him, but at this point I shall have to admit I 
weakened just a little. I remembered the year of illness 
and anxiety we had just been through; and sometimes I 
yearned to be safe in Washington even though it did mean 
our settlement in the "fixed groove" that I had talked 
against for so long. 

Mr. Taft's plain and unmistakable duty held him in the 
Philippine Islands. He knew he could not detach himself 
completely from the enterprise upon which he was engaged 
without grave consequences to it. His one cause for un- 
certainty as to what he should do lay in a suspicion that he 

263 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

might have done something to embarrass the Administration 
in a political sense, or that his opponents in the monastic 
orders and Friars' lands controversy might have made repre- 
sentations which caused the President to consider his re- 
moval "upstairs" advisable. He discussed the matter con- 
fidentially with Mr. Benito Legarda and with the Chief 
Justice of the Philippines, Mr. Arellano, and the comment 
of the Chief Justice was: "There, the influence of the 
Friars has reached even to Washington." Mr. Taft cabled 
to his brother Henry in New York to make private inquiries 
in this connection, since he did not wish to remain in the 
islands if his presence there was in any way undesirable, 
but at the same time he cabled to the President : 

President Roosevelt, Washington. Great honour deeply appre- 
ciated but must decline. Situation here most critical from eco- 
nomic standpoint. Change proposed would create much disap- 
pointment and lack of confidence among people. Two years now 
to follow of greater importance to development of islands than 
previous two years. Cholera, rinderpest, religious excitement, 
ladrones, monetary crisis, all render most unwise change of Gov- 
ernor. These are sentiments of my colleagues and two or three 
leading Filipinos consulted confidentially. Nothing would satisfy 
individual taste more than acceptance. Look forward to the time 
when I can accept such an offer, but even if it is certain that it can 
never be repeated I must now decline. Would not assume to 
answer in such positive terms in view of words of your despatch if 
gravity of situation here was not necessarily known to me better 
than it can be known in Washington. Taft. 

He also sent the following cablegram to Secretary Root: 

Secwar, Washington. Referring to cablegram from your office 
of 26th inst. (October, 1902) my health is about as good as when 
I landed in 1900, but conditions here would make my withdrawal, 
unless absolutely compulsory, violation of duty. It may be that 
I shall be ill again, but I am more careful now than before. 
Chance has thrown every obstacle in the way of our success, but 
we shall win. I long for a judicial career but if it must turn on 
my present decision I am willing to lose it. Taft. 

264 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

In late November Mr. Taft received this letter from the 
President : 

Dear Will, I am disappointed, of course, that the situation is 
such as to make you feel it unwise for you to leave, because, ex- 
actly as no man can quite do your work in the islands, so no man 
can quite take your place as the new member of the Court. But, 
if possible, your refusal on the ground you give makes me admire 
you and believe in you more than ever. I am quite at a loss whom 
to appoint to the Bench in the place I meant for you. Every- 
thing else must give way to putting in the right man ; but I can't 
make up my mind who is the right man. 

Always affectionately yours, 

Theodore Roosevelt. 

So ended that period of wondering what we were to do. 
At least I thought it was ended, and while I settled down to 
the continued and continuous round of social "work" and 
pleasure, Mr. Taft proceeded with his strenuous fight 
against accumulated and complicated difficulties. We had 
Major General and Mrs. Miles with us at Malacanan for 
a time and after they left I went down to Batangas, where 
General Bell was in command, to "rest" awhile in Mrs. 
Bell's somewhat less crowded and exciting circle. I ac- 
cepted with a high degree of pleasure the prospect of per- 
haps two more years in this very interesting field of work, 
but President Roosevelt had other views. It was scarcely 
a month after the Supreme Court incident was supposed to 
be closed when Mr. Taft received a letter which reopened 
it with a decisiveness which seemed final. Such parts of 
the letter as bear directly on the proposal to Mr. Taft I 
shall quote: 

Dear Will, I am awfully sorry, old man, but after faithful 
effort for a month to try to arrange matters on the basis you 
wanted I find that I shall have to bring you home and put you on 
the Supreme Court. I am very sorry. I have the greatest con- 
fidence in your judgment, but, after all, old fellow, if you will 
permit me to say so, I am President and see the whole field. The 

265 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

responsibility for any error must ultimately come upon me, and 
therefore I cannot shirk the responsibility or in the last resort yield 
to any one else's decision if my judgment is against it. After the 
most careful thought; after the most earnest effort as to what you 
desired and thought best, I have come, irrevocably, to the decision 
that I shall appoint you to the Supreme Court in the vacancy 
caused by Judge Shiras' resignation. ... I am very sorry if what 
I am doing displeases you, but as I said, old man, this is one of the 
cases where the President, if he is fit for his position, must take the 
responsibility and put the men on whom he most relies in the particu- 
lar positions in which he himself thinks they can render the greatest 
public good. I shall therefore about February first nominate you 
as I have suggested. With affectionate regard, 

Ever yours, 

Theodore Roosevelt. 

This seemed final enough as to be quite unanswerable, so 
I heaved a sigh of resignation and made some remark about 
the not unpleasing prospect of our all getting home alive at 
any rate. General Wright was to succeed to the Governor- 
ship, which was a great consolation to my husband, and we 
began at once to outline a programme of obedience to the 
President. Mr. Taft announced his impending departure 
and really considered that further argument was useless, but 
conditions were such that he could not resist the temptation 
to hazard one more protest. He cabled to Mr. Roosevelt: 

The President, Washington, Recognise soldier's duty to obey 
orders. Before orders irrevocable by action however I presume 
on our personal friendship even in the face of your letter to make 
one more appeal, in which I lay aside wholly my strong personal 
disinclination to leave work of intense interest half done. No man 
is indispensable; my death would little interfere with programme, 
but my withdrawal more serious. Circumstances last three years 
have convinced these people, controlled largely by personal feel- 
ing, that I am their friend and stand for a policy of confidence in 
them and belief in their future and for extension of self-govern- 
ment as they show themselves worthy. Visit to Rome and pro- 
posals urged there assure them of my sympathy in regard to 
friars in respect to whose far-reaching influence they are mor- 

266 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

bidly suspicious. Announcement of withdrawal pending settle- 
ment of church question, economic crises, and formative political 
period when opinions of all parties are being slowly moulded for 
the better, will, I fear, give impression that change of policy is 
intended because other reasons for action will not be understood. 
My successor's task is thus made much heavier because any loss of 
the people's confidence distinctly retards our work here. I feel 
it is my duty to say this. If your judgment is unshaken I bow 
to it and shall earnestly and enthusiastically labour to settle ques- 
tion friars' lands before I leave, and to convince the people that 
no change of policy is at hand; that Wright is their warm friend 
as sincere as they think me, and that we both are but exponents 
of the sincere good will toward them of yourself and the Ameri- 
can people. Taft. 

After this things began to happen which nobody, least of 
all my husband, had anticipated. When the announcement 
was made that we were to leave -there was, at first, just a 
buzz of astonishment and incredulity, but within two days 
the whole city of Manila was placarded, in all the neces- 
sary languages, with the simple and uniform sentiment: 
"Oueremos Taft," "We Want Taft." Mr. Root's render- 
ing of this in English was "I want you, Mah Honey, yes, I 
do." These announcements were printed in letters of all 
sizes and all colours, but the wording did not vary in the 
slightest degree; just, "We Want Taft." 

Then on the morning of the loth of January — the letter 
from Mr. Roosevelt was received on the 6th — we saw 
marching through the gates of Malacanan a column of 
citizens, blocks long, with bands playing, flags flying and 
many transparencies bobbing over their heads. These citi- 
zens packed themselves around the entrance of the Palace 
and proceeded to make a demonstration. It was rather sad- 
dening to us in view of our conviction that we must go, but 
we listened with what composure we could command to the 
eloquent speeches. The speakers came up into the Palace 
and addressed the crowd from a great window over the 

main entrance. 

267 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Dr. Dominador Gomez, one of the popular orators and 
labour agitators, began by saying that Mr. Taft was the 
"saint" who had "the power to perform the great miracle" 
of uniting the distinct opinions and contrary motives of the 
people, and declared that "this is a spontaneous demonstra- 
tion of affection for our Governor which is to be reduced to 
expression in a respectful petition to the President." 

Dr. Xeres Burgos, an old insurrecto, said he spoke for no 
political party but in behalf of the mass of people which 
surrounded us, — "this people who wish to say to you that all 
those calamities which have weighed and do weigh upon the 
Filipinos are as nothing compared with the evil effect caused 
by your impending departure from this government, just 
at the precise moment when the Filipino people expect, 
through your honesty and love for them, an end to all eco- 
nomic and governmental disturbances, as well as the solu- 
tion of the agricultural problem which is so closely inter- 
woven with the Friar question. The Filipino people trust 
that the home government will not tear from their arms 
their beloved governor upon whom depends the happy solu- 
tion of all Philippine questions. In a word: the Filipino 
people desire the continuation of Governor Taft in these 
Islands!" 

Tomaso G. del Rosario likened Mr. Taft to a ship's rud- 
der adept at "avoiding shallows" and "bringing her safe 
into port." Then he said the Philippines were "rising 
from the ashes of a momentous revolution and advancing 
toward the future with a heart full of enthusiasm and hope," 
and that "a ruler lacking the qualifications so happily com- 
bined in Mr. Taft might faint by the wayside." 

There were other speeches, but the climax came when 
Pedro A. Paterno began by comparing Mr. Taft with Jesus 
Christ, saying that "as Christ had converted the cross into 
a symbol of glory and triumph, so had Governor Taft 

268 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

turned a dying people to the light and life of modern liber- 
ties." 

This sounds quite blasphemous in English, but the Fil- 
ipinos take strange liberties with holy names which shock 
us but which to them are mere expressions of piety. Jesus 
is a favourite name for boy babies, while there is a street of 
"The Heart of Jesus" in Manila, and many others equally 
inconsistent with our more reticent taste. 

Needless to say the cable between Manila and Washing- 
ton was crowded that day with protests to the President; 
protests not only from citizens and committees of citizens, 
but from all Mr. Taft's colleagues in the government, both 
Filipino and American. Two days later my husband re- 
ceived a message from Mr. Roosevelt which gave us all a 
hearty laugh. It read, simply: "Taft, Manila, All right 
stay where you are. I shall appoint some one else to the 
Court. Roosevelt." 

Altogether it was quite an exciting event. After the 
"smoke of battle" had cleared away Mr. Taft rose up out of 
his depression and went to work with renewed vigour and 
strengthened confidence, but I began to think that after all 
the demonstrations and protestations we should have to 
remain in the Islands the rest of our lives whether we wanted 
to or not. Six months later, however, we learned, to 
our consternation, that Mr. Root was going to resign as 
Secretary of War in the fall or winter following, and with- 
out a moment's hesitation as far as we could judge, the posi- 
tion was offered by Mr. Roosevelt to Mr. Taft. It was 
urged upon him, in fact. This was much more pleasing to 
me than the offer of the Supreme Court appointment, be- 
cause it was in line with the kind of work I wanted my hus- 
band to do, the kind of career I wanted for him and ex- 
pected him to have, so I was glad there were few excuses 
for refusing to accept it open to him. If it hadn't been 

269 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

that it was merely a case of transferring his services from 
the necessarily restricted field of work in the Philippines to 
the broader and more powerful field of general supervision 
of Philippine affairs in the War Department, he probably 
would have declined the appointment and begged to be 
left where he was, but the change was not to take place for 
a year and he knew that as soon as he had settled the Friars' 
question and a few other matters of importance in the Is- 
lands he could be of more use to the Filipino people in 
Washington than he could in Manila. General Wright 
was to succeed him, with Mr. Ide and Judge Smith, both 
trained men, in line of succession to follow General Wright, 
so with the promise of a few months in which to close up 
the affairs in which he was most deeply engrossed, he ac- 
cepted the Cabinet office. 

Shortly before we left Manila to take up our residence in 
Washington we decided to give a final and memorable 
entertainment. We wanted it to be something original, 
so we discussed it and pondered over it at great length. 
We thought we had given every kind of party that inge- 
nuity could devise during our residence at Malacafian, but 
one evening, sitting out on the verandah looking across the 
still, softly-lapping river at the low-hung lights on the op- 
posite bank, it suddenly occurred to me that we had an ideal 
setting for a Venetian Carnival, and a Venetian Carnival 
was settled upon without further ado. It was to be a 
masked ball, the front gates of the Palace grounds were to 
be closed and everybody was to come by boat to the river 
landing on the verandah below. 

As soon as this plan was noised abroad the town was 
agog with excitement. The first question, of course, to 
occur to everybody was: "What shall I go as?" And 
pretty soon every woman in town, and many men, assumed 
that labouredly innocent air peculiar to a period of prepara- 

270 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

tion for a masked ball in a community where everybody 
knows or wants to know all about everybody else. 

I knew right away what I should "go as." I would be 
a Venetian lady of romance days. But the question of Mr. 
Taft's costume was not so easily settled. If he hadn't 
interposed so many ideas of his own it would have been 
much simpler. In writing to his brother Charles he says: 
"It is a humiliating fact to me that every suggestion of a 
character for me by me has been summarily rejected by 
Nellie unless it involved the wearing of a gown of such 
voluminous proportions as to conceal my Apollo-like form 
completely. The proposal that I assume the character of 
an Igorrote chieftain because of the slight drain on capital 
and our costuming resources did not meet with favour. So 
it is settled that I must assume the robes and headgear of 
the husband of the Adriatic, the Doge of Venice. The 
question is whether the robe can be made historically accu- 
rate and at the same time so conceal my nether extremities 
as to make it unnecessary for me to dye my nether under- 
garments to a proper colour, for the entire Orient cannot 
produce tights of a sufficient size. The Council of War, 
meaning Nellie, has not advised me on the subject, but 
tights or no tights we shall have a Doge of Venice 'that never 
was on land or sea.' " And we did. 

We called a committee of Filipinos to arrange about 
illuminations on the river and the decoration of launches, 
cascoes, bancas, rafts and barges, and this committee took 
the whole matter out of my hands and went to work with 
the zeal of children playing at some fascinating new 
game. They arranged for a number of pavilioned craft 
decorated with flowers, and offered a prize for the most 
beautiful and elaborate private launch, or boat of any kind. 
Then on either bank of the river they stretched lines of 
coloured electric lights and crossed the river at close intervals 

2 7* 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

with other lines as far as the eye could see in both direc- 
tions. The whole Palace building was outlined in elec- 
tric lights, while the great trees and every little bush were 
wired and strung with a myriad multicoloured globes, 
hundreds of them covered with Japanese lanterns in fantas- 
tic colours and designs. All the garden walks and drives 
were bordered with tiny coloured lamps burning cocoanut 
oil, set close in against the well trimmed lawns, and when 
it was all finished and the light turned on the place was 
like a fairyland. 

The date for the Carnival was set for full moon night, 
the third of December, and never will I forget the brilliance 
and beauty of the scene as one gay and picturesque barge 
or improvised gondola after another, full of laughing, chat- 
tering and singing people in masks and all manner of strange 
costumes, and with mandolins and guitars playing, floated 
up under the bright canopy of swinging globes, a million 
times reflected in the ripples of the river, to the ancient- 
looking, moss-grown landing where Mr. Taft and I, as the 
Doge of Venice and his Lady, stood receiving our guests 
with as much mock stateliness as we could command in the 
midst of such a merry throng. It will linger in my memory 
always as one of the most entrancing evenings of my life. 

Rain was predicted, as usually happens when I give any 
kind of a garden party, and all day long I had watched the 
clouds with a feeling of helpless exasperation. I wanted 
fair weather; I wanted the moonlight; but as night came on 
the lowering grey canopy seemed to float upward and 
spread itself out into a mere haze which softened and dif- 
fused the brightness and made ten times more effective our 
myriad swinging lamps and lanterns. 

Everybody had done his or her utmost in the matter of 
costuming, and with a success that I never saw surpassed. 
All the fine old collections of jewels in the rich Spanish and 
Filipino families were taken out, and in many cases made 

272 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

over into special designs to deck oriental princesses, his- 
toric queens and noble ladies of storied fame. 

Perhaps the most striking costume of all was worn by 
Mrs. Rafael Reyes, a tall dark Spanish lady of extraordi- 
nary beauty, the wife of a prominent and wealthy Filipino. 
Senora Reyes came as the Queen of Night, and she was 
literally ablaze with diamonds. Not brilliants nor rhine- 
stones, but diamonds large and small, sewn all over the 
long graceful folds of her sweeping black robe to represent 
stars. On her small shapely head, crowned with a wealth 
of shining black hair, she wore a large diamond crescent. 
She caught the light and sparkled, her vivacious personality 
sparkling with her jewels. On that memorable occasion 
nobody who saw her could possibly forget her. 

Dancing and frolicking continued long into the night, 
but as the evening wore to a close we began to feel a sense 
of depression. In a very few days we were to leave the 
Islands perhaps never to return, and this was our last party 
at old Malacanan. It is not amiss, I am sure, to say that 
every laughing face sobered and every voice took on a 
regretful tone as one by one our guests came up to say good 
night — and good-bye. 



273 



CHAPTER XIII 

SECRETARY OF WAR 

To illustrate what seems to me to be rather widely con- 
trasted views of the position of Secretary of War for the 
United States, I think I must relate two experiences I had 
in the beginning of Mr. Taft's career in that office. 

Before we left Manila his appointment had been an- 
nounced and as we passed through Japan en route to Wash- 
ington we were received with all the ceremony and official 
dignity that the Japanese naturally would consider proper 
to the entertainment of the War Minister of a great and 
friendly foreign power. This was experience number one. 

It was just before the outbreak of hostilities between 
Russia and Japan, and General Kuropotkin, the Russian 
Minister of War, had very recently been in Tokyo and had 
been accorded a welcome so elaborate that it became historic. 
It satisfied the Japanese conception of courtesy to an exalted 
foreign visitor and we discovered that it was to serve as 
a model for our own reception, though our time was so 
short that the programme had to be considerably modified. 

Had we remained with our ship to Yokohama there would 
have been no opportunity to entertain us at all, but a 
special train was sent to meet us at Nagasaki, the first port 
of call on the homeward voyage, and nearly the whole 
length of the Empire from Tokyo, and we were whisked 
through ahead of everything two or three days in advance 
of our ship, which had to make two more stops before pro- 
ceeding to Yokohama. 

We were the guests of the nation and were conducted 
from one function to another with the greatest honour and 
official formality. Among other arrangements made for 
our entertainment was a luncheon at the Palace with the 
Emperor and Empress, and Mr. Taft was permitted, in his 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

capacity of a war secretary, to witness the evolutions of a 
crack Japanese regiment, of 3,000 troops ready for the field 
massed on a single great parade ground. 

The Japanese Minister of War, General Terauchi, was 
a soldier — which seems fitting, and which is usual in most 
countries I believe — and he assumed at once, in common 
with all the other Army officers whom he encountered, that 
Mr. Taft was a soldier, too. This has nothing to do with 
my immediate story, but I remember it as one of the most 
amusing circumstances of that visit to Japan. Whatever 
Mr. Taft may be he is not martial, but these Japanese war- 
riors proceeded to credit him with all manner of special 
knowledge which he had never had an opportunity to acquire 
and to speak to him in technical terms which, it must be ad- 
mitted, strained his ability for concealing his ignorance. He 
finally said that if anybody asked him again about the 
muzzle velocity of a Krag-Jorgensen, or any like question, 
he intended to reply: "Sh! It's a secret!" 

General Kodama, who afterward made himself world- 
famous as Chief of Staff during the Russo-Japanese War, 
had been Military Governor of Formosa and he was 
especially interested in Mr. Taft because he conceived that in 
the Philippines we had a parallel for their Formosan prob- 
lem. He grew quite confidential, telling Mr. Taft many 
things about the Japanese administration of Formosan af- 
fairs and drawing comparisons between his difficulties and 
those that we had encountered under similar circumstances. 
He ended by saying : 

"We had to kill a good many thousands of those people 
before they would be good. But then, of course, you under- 
stand, — you know, — you know!" 

This story could not have been told at that time because 
there were groups of active anti-Imperialists in the United 
States who would have pounced upon it as something to be 
made the most of as an argument for their cause, but in the 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

light of history that has been made I think it is safe to tell 
it now. Mr. Taft had to admit that he was a man of peace, 
that so far as he personally was concerned he had never killed 
nor ordered killed a single Filipino in his life, and that his 
whole endeavour had been to form a friendly alliance with 
the Philippine people and to dissuade them from indulgence 
in the personal danger involved in their useless opposition to 
temporary American control. 

We made something of a triumphal progress through 
Japan during our short stay and were escorted to our ship 
by numerous dignitaries who were extremely gracious and 
who cheered us on our way with such "banzais !" and such a 
waving of flags as made me feel that we were quite important 
personages. Later on I had my sense of the importance of 
my position rudely shaken. There is one thing to be said 
for the American Republic and that is that no public official 
is permitted to retain for very long a too exalted opinion of 
himself. 

One day shortly after my arrival in Washington, I was 
at tea at the house of a friend and found myself in conversa- 
tion with a lady, the wife of an Army officer, whom I had 
known in Manila. We talked around and about various 
subjects, after the manner of ladies at a tea, when she finally 
said to me : 

"You know, Mrs. Taft, I have thought about you so 
often and wondered how you liked it here in Washington 
after your life in Manila. Why, out there you were really 
a queen, and you come back here and are just nobody!" 

There was another lady who sat next to my husband at a 
dinner one night. It was a place of honour, next to a Cabinet 
officer, and she no doubt considered it necessary to "make 
conversation" while the candle-lights shone. She went 
along quite successfully for awhile, but eventually blundered 
into this: 

"Do you know, Mr. Secretary, I really think you ought to 

276 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

go out and see the Philippine Islands. They say they are 
so interesting !" 

Poor man, most of his reputation, such as it then was, had 
been made in the Philippine service, but he replied to her: 
"That's right, I should go. And I'm going, too, just as 
soon as I can possibly get away." 

He meant that. He had promised the Filipinos that he 
would return to open their first Assembly, and even then he 
had a fixed desire to lead a party of American Congressmen 
to the country whose affairs they were endeavouring to settle 
by long-distance legislation founded upon very mixed and, 
in some cases, greatly distorted, second-hand information. 

Mr. Taft became Secretary of War at the beginning of 
1904, but I spent the remainder of the winter after our 
arrival in the United States in Santa Barbara and did not 
join him until May, when I met him at St. Louis, where he 
went to open the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. 

President Roosevelt was to have done this, but urgent 
affairs kept him in Washington, so the Secretary of War 
was asked to represent him and to make the speech which an- 
nounced to the world the inauguration of this great Fair. 
I remember the occasion especially because I had been so 
long out of touch with the kind of buoyant Americanism 
which made itself felt in St. Louis that I had almost lost my 
own identity with it, and I began then to think that it was 
really good to be back in my own country. 

I knew fairly well what it would mean to settle down in 
Washington as the wife of a Cabinet officer because I had 
lived in Washington before. While I didn't expect to be 
and didn't expect anybody to consider me "just nobody" I 
knew that it would not be at all like entering upon the duties 
and privileges of the wife of the Governor of the Philippine 
Islands. I thought what a curious and peculiarly American 
sort of promotion it was which carried with it such dimin- 



ished advantages. 



277 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

My first necessity in my generally considered enviable 
position was to find a house in Washington large enough 
to contain my family, to permit such participation in social 
life as would be expected of us, and the rent for which would 
not wholly exhaust the stipend then allowed to a Cabinet 
officer. 

Eight thousand dollars a year, sufficient income though it 
may be when it is expected to accommodate itself to an 
ordinary eight-thousand-dollars-a-year standard of living, 
shrinks alarmingly when its recipient is expected to maintain 
on it the dignity of a Cabinet position. If we had not had 
some private resources I don't quite see how we could have 
managed. Fortunately for my husband, and more so for his 
successors in office, this figure was raised to twelve thousand 
before he left the War Department, and still there are com- 
plaints which I am amply able to appreciate. 

We finally settled, on the first of October after my arrival 
at Washington, in a pleasant, old-fashioned house on K 
Street near 16th. It was not the most elegantly equipped 
house available, but we preferred a little extra space to the 
more elaborate modern conveniences, so we took it. 

We were spared one item of expense by having the use 
of the War Department carriage and its big Irish coachman, 
Quade. Ouade was quite a character. He had been at 
one time in the artillery service and had occupied the po- 
sition in which we found him through several administra- 
tions. He was never able to lose the habits and manners of 
an artillery man, and Mr. Roosevelt used to say he never 
drove behind him without feeling as if he were on the caisson 
of a gun wagon going into action. He kept his horses in 
fine condition, though a trifle too fat perhaps, and he took 
great pride in the speed he could get out of them. He would 
swing around corners and dash past street cars and other 
vehicles in a way that was anything but soothing to sensitive 

278 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

nerves, but there was no use protesting. Quade's character 
was fully formed. 

He used to feed Mr. Taft's private riding horse at the 
public expense, and Mr. Taft didn't approve of this. He 
thought he ought to include the pay for its keep in his per- 
sonal accounts, and he told Quade so, asking him ,at the same 
time to have a bill made out so that he might settle it. 
Quade regarded him in utter disgust for a moment, then said : 

"Well, Misther Sicretary, what with the good an' plinty 
o' fodder we got in the stables, I guess ye can go on a-feedin' 
your horse here without the Government's a-worryin' anny." 

I remember going one day to a reception at the house of 
Justice Harlan on the occasion of his twenty-fifth anni- 
versary on the bench. President Roosevelt was already 
there and as we drove up we found the bicycle policemen 
surrounding the entrance waiting for him. Quade, with 
great friendliness but with an absolute lack of decorum, 
leaned over on the box and shouted to them as we passed: 

"Ah, Begorra! Ye'll be a-waitin' around fer my boss 
one o' these days !" 

Faithful Quade lived to see his prophecy fulfilled, but not 
long afterward he lost his life at his post of duty in a shock- 
ing accident. He was driving the Department carriage for 
Secretary of War Dickinson's family; the pole broke, the 
horses became frightened and bolted. There were young 
children and a nurse in the carriage, so Quade bravely held 
on to the reins and finally succeeded in turning the horses 
into a fence. He saved the occupants of the carriage from 
injury, but he himself was thrown forward violently, falling 
in such a way as to break his neck. 

Another War department employe whom we valued 
highly was Arthur Brooks, a coloured department messenger, 
and a major of militia. Arthur was the most useful indi- 
vidual I ever knew anything about, combining absolute loy- 

279 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

alty with an efficiency and accuracy that were most comfort- 
ing to his employers. He went into the War Department 
during President Arthur's administration and gradually won 
for himself a position of especial trust. Mr. Root, as Sec- 
retary of War, found Arthur most valuable and reposed the 
utmost confidence in him. 

For me he did all kinds of things which without him would 
probably have been done very badly. He "managed" all 
my larger entertainments, being present, after I had done all 
I could by way of preparation, to see that everybody was 
properly received, that the service ran smoothly and that 
nothing went amiss. When Mr. Taft became President he 
had Arthur transferred to the position of custodian of the 
White House and I shall have occasion to speak of him in 
that capacity later on. 

Taking things all in all, I think we managed to get on 
very well indeed, though I did sometimes sigh for the lux- 
urious simplicity and the entire freedom from petty house- 
hold details that I had left behind me in Manila. I did not 
find that my very large and very black cook was so capable 
as to make me forget the excellencies and the almost sound- 
less orderliness of Ah Sing; nor did my coloured butler and 
one housemaid quite manage to take the places of Ah King 
and Chang, my two upstairs "Chinaboys" at Malacanan. 
As for the six or eight barefoot muchachos who "skated" my 
Philippine hardwood floors to a state of mirror gloss and 
kept everything speckless without ever seeming to do any 
work at all, they could have no substitute in a Washington 
establishment. 

The life of a "Cabinet lady" newly arrived in the Capital 
is one of rather monotonous stress. In the first place she is 
expected to call on nearly everybody who calls on her, and, of 
course, nearly everybody does that. This custom in my 
time was especially insisted upon with regard to the wives of 
all the Congressmen and of all the men connected with the 

280 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

various departments. Then there were the wives of the 
members of the Supreme Court, women whose husbands were 
connected with the many different bureaus and a large and 
most attractive civilian society which contributes so much to 
the gaiety of the city. And besides all these there were the 
Army women, any number of them. 

Every afternoon throughout the winter when I was not 
"at home" myself I started out on certain rounds of calls, 
and I think I made as many calls as any one I knew. Irk- 
some to me as this duty sometimes was, in the formal dis- 
charge of it I made some of the pleasantest friends I ever 
had. I have always found Army women particularly de- 
lightful, and it is easy to understand why they are so. In 
the course of their wanderings and their many changes of 
habitation, and in consequence of the happy-go-lucky at- 
titude toward life that they are bound to assume, they ac- 
quire a cordiality of manner and an all-round generous tone 
which make them very attractive. 

One morning each week Mrs. Roosevelt held a meeting of 
the Cabinet ladies at the White House, but this was not a 
social affair. We met to discuss various matters supposed 
to be of interest to us all, and would gather in the library 
from eleven to twelve for this purpose. 

After calling, the most important social duty devolving 
upon a Cabinet officer's wife is dining out. We always 
dined out when we were not giving a dinner party at our 
own house, so that from the time Mr. Taft became Secre- 
tary of War we almost ceased to know what it was to have 
"a quiet evening at home." Of course such a life gave us 
an opportunity for meeting many interesting men and women 
who contributed much to the sum total of what the world 
seemed to have in store for us. 

It has been the custom through a good many administra- 
tions for the President, sometime during the season between 
December first and Lent, to dine with each member of the 

281 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Cabinet, and all other members of the Cabinet, with only a 
few outside guests, were usually invited to these parties. 
It can easily be imagined that they did not offer much varia- 
tion, especially in view of the fact that hard and fast rules 
of precedence settled for the hostess just where each of her 
guests should sit. Mr. Roosevelt did not care for this cus- 
tom, so during his last Administration it became usual to 
ask to such dinners only people outside the "official family," 
as it is called. The dinner to Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt which 
we gave each year was our most ambitious social function 
and it was my desire always to invite as many persons as 
possible who would themselves prove entertaining and who 
would not be likely to meet the President in the ordinary 
course of events. I often asked friends from different parts 
of the country to visit us for the occasion. 

Every Wednesday afternoon all the ladies of the Cabinet 
were "at home" and nearly all Washington called on each 
of them. Then, too, the casual visitors to the Capital were 
free to attend these informal receptions and I used to be 
surprised at the number of curious strangers who found their 
way into my drawing room. 

However, this is only a glimpse in general of the life of 
a Cabinet lady during the regular social season. Fortu- 
nately for me my husband was, from the very beginning, a 
travelling Secretary. I remember most of the cartoons of 
those days pictured him either as "sitting on the lid," 
wreathed in cherubic smiles, while President Roosevelt 
rushed off on some flying trip, or as himself making a frantic 
dash for the rear platform of a moving train. The rush of 
Mr. Roosevelt was always expressed by the backward sweep 
of the ribbon attached to his eyeglasses, while Mr. Taft was 
usually pictured with a perspiring look, his hat lifted off his 
head by the wind and a busy looking suitcase, labelled in 
large letters: "Taft," swinging wildly along behind him. 

282 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

And these cartoons were rather accurately descriptive of real 
conditions. 

I had hardly got my house on K Street in order before 
something happened in Panama which made it imperative 
for the Secretary of War to go down to the Isthmus and 
give the situation his personal attention. There was a state 
of popular discontent among the Panamanians complicated 
by question of zone boundaries, jurisdiction, postal regula- 
tions, tariff inequalities and a few other matters, and by 
that time we had too much at stake in the Canal Zone to 
risk long distance or dilatory regulation. 

The building of the Panama Canal was not included in 
the business of the War Department until after Mr. Taft 
became Secretary, nor was there at that time any definite 
idea of having it done by the Army Engineer Corps, but it 
has long been recognised that in the War Portfolio accom- 
modation can be found for any and every kind of govern- 
mental problem, and Mr. Taft had not been Secretary long 
before Mr. Roosevelt transferred the administration of 
Canal Zone affairs to his already well-laden shoulders. 

I was very glad to have an opportunity to see the begin- 
ning of what I knew was to be the greatest enterprise ever 
undertaken by the United States, so I fully approved of 
my husband's suggestion that I accompany him to Panama. 
Senor Obaldia, the Panamanian Minister to Washington, 
went also, and among others in the very interesting party 
were Rear Admiral J. G. Walker, President of the Canal 
Commission, Judge Charles G. Magoon, law officer of the 
Commission, and Mr. Nelson W. Cromwell, counsel for the 
Republic of Panama. 

On this trip Mr. Taft went to Panama as a representative 
of the President of the United States for the purpose of 
presenting to the President of Panama a message of friend- 
ship, and to make, if possible, an amicable adjustment of 

283 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

the differences between American and Panamanian interests. 

It was in November, 1904. We went from Washing- 
ton to New Orleans and were greeted in a kindly manner 
all along the way. When we arrived we were met by a 
most imposing committee of citizens who escorted us to our 
hotel. No sooner were we installed, in the midst of all the 
luxury that could be prepared for us, than Governor 
Blanchard, with due ceremony and accompanied by mem- 
bers of his staff in uniform, called to pay his official respects. 
We hadn't very long to stay, but every hour was filled with 
entertainments made memorable by the courteous and high- 
bred lavishness for which New Orleans is famed, the only 
private event of our visit being a dinner with Archbishop 
Chapelle, now dead, who was Archbishop of Manila when 
Mr. Taft first went to the Philippines and with whom he 
good-naturedly, but persistently, disagreed on the important 
problems connected with the necessary disentanglement of 
the affairs of Church and State in the Islands. 

We sailed on the little Dolphin from New Orleans to 
Pensacola, where the cruiser Columbia lay waiting to take us 
down to Panama, and it was to the boom of saluting guns, 
the cheers of hospitable Pensacola citizens and the strains 
of "The Star Spangled Banner" that we got under way on 
this first memorable trip to the Canal Zone. 

We arrived at Colon on a Sunday morning, and I remem- 
ber distinctly that it seemed more like "getting home" than 
like getting to a strange place. The whole atmosphere and 
surroundings, the people, the language they spoke, the 
houses and streets, the rank earth odours and the very feel 
of the air reminded me so strongly of the Philippines as to 
give me immediately a delightful sense of friendly famil- 
iarity with everything and everybody. 

We were met at Colon by the vice-President of Panama, 
Senor Arosemana, and a number of other Panamanian offi- 
cials, by General Davis, then Governor of the Canal Zone, 

284 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and by Mr. John Barrett, the American Minister to Panama. 
A private train was waiting to take us across the Isthmus and 
we lost no time in getting started. Our visit had been 
"programmed" almost to the last hour of our time, and the 
first event was to be an exchange of formalities between the 
Secretary of War and the President of Panama that very 
afternoon. 

When we got to the city of Panama just before luncheon 
we went to the home of Mr. Wallace, the Chief Engineer, 
whose guests we were to be during our stay, and early in 
the afternoon Mr. Taft, accompanied by uniformed aides 
and other Army officers, with enough ceremony to satisfy 
even the, most formal, went to call on President Amador. 
The call was promptly returned with due formality, and the 
decks were then considered "cleared for action." 

Negotiations began at once, but the conferences were 
private, and in our daily round of sight-seeing and social 
diversions it did not seem that the delicate machinery of 
diplomatic transaction was in motion at all. 

Our Minister, Mr. Barrett, had a charming house in the 
old tropic city and on the Monday evening after our arrival 
he gave a dinner at which were gathered many high officials 
of the Panama Republic as well as all the interesting Amer- 
icans who were then directing our great Canal building en- 
terprise. Mr. Barrett, being a bachelor, placed President 
Amador opposite himself; he took Madame Amador at his 
right; Mr. Taft sat next to her, while I occupied the place 
at the right of the President and had on my other side Senor 
Arias, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. General Davis, Mr. 
Wallace, Colonel Gorgas — "the man of the hour" during 
that cleaning-up period, — many Army officers and Cabinet 
Ministers in full regalia and many decorations, with their 
wives, were seated in order of rank along the sides of the 
great table, which, laden with flowers and gleaming glass and 
candles, made a picture long to be remembered even by one 

285 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

whose memory is overcrowded with dinner-party scenes. 

The formality of this occasion, however, began and ended 
with its costuming and its beautiful tropic "setting." 
Nearly everybody, including the President and Madame 
Amador, spoke English as well as Spanish, and the evening 
was gay from the outset. There is a wonderful fish caught 
in Panama waters; I wish I could remember its name; it is 
delicious and rare beyond description, and our pleasantries 
began with the President's demand for a second helping 
which the embarrassed host and the more than flustered serv- 
ants were unable to supply. The persiflage then turned 
upon the unenviable position of a bachelor diplomat and 
we all advised Mr. Barrett to get married. He parried our 
jibes as best he could until President Amador volunteered 
the information that the American Minister was honorary 
President of the Iris Club, an association of some three 
hundred-odd of the choicest girls in Panama. "And he 
can't get one out of the lot," said the President. 

After dinner a large reception was held in the salon which, 
as in all Spanish houses in the tropics, was on what might 
be called the second floor, the first floor being only a sort of 
plastered and stone-paved street-level basement. The 
highly-polished floor of the big room didn't look to me to 
be particularly safe and I suppose Mr. Barrett observed my 
worried looks as it "gave" under the weight of my husband. 
Pie hastened to reassure me by telling me that he had taken 
the precaution to have it shored up with heavy timbers under 
the spot where Mr. Taft was to stand to receive the long 
line of guests. He seemed to consider this a fine joke, but I 
thought it a most commendable measure. 

When we arrived in Panama we were not at all certain 
that we should find the country in a state of tranquillity; 
nor did we exactly; though by prompt action the President 
had nipped a budding revolution only a short time before. 
Hostilities had been averted, but the people were in a bad 

286 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

temper and it was thought best to keep them "merely guess- 
ing" while the negotiations between the Secretary of War 
and the Panamanian government were in progress, and much 
of Mr. Taft's time, therefore, was spent behind the closed 
doors of President Amador's council chamber. 

In the meantime I made myself familiar with the wonder- 
ful American project which brought the Panama Republic 
into existence. The Canal then was a sorry sight. The 
public clamour in the United States was for "making the 
dirt fly," but it did not look to a mere layman as if we could 
ever make it fly fast enough or in sufficient quantities to 
really bring the two oceans together. All along the line of 
operations the old French machinery lay buried in pathetic 
ruin in a tropic jungle which had all but effaced the evi- 
dences of the French enterprise, and such conditions of gen- 
eral unhealthiness prevailed as made it seem almost too 
much to expect that any kind of clean-up programme could 
be made effectual. 

But all that story has been told; told in actual accom- 
plishment with which all the world is familiar. I am only 
glad that I saw Colonel Gorgas and his men in that initial 
and contagious enthusiasm which, being sustained, resulted 
in a record of which we are all so proud. 

The Panamanians are nothing if not expansively hospit- 
able. On the 4th of December, after we had been on the 
Isthmus a couple of weeks and while the results of the offi- 
cial negotiations were still, as far as any one knew, "in the 
lap of the gods," an ocean steamship was chartered by a 
company of hosts, and about three hundred guests, the elite 
of the whole republic, were invited for a picnic party to the 
Pearl Islands in the Ray of Panama, and a sail out into the 
Pacific Ocean. It was an all-day expedition and included 
the exploration of the beautiful little group, some pearl-div- 
ing for our especial benefit, a most amazing luncheon, and a 
dance on deck, to the music of a stringed band in gay and 

287 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

most decorative uniforms, at which Mr. Taft made a tre- 
mendous "hit." The tiny Panamanian woman who first 
danced with him was thought to be very courageous, but as 
one after another followed suit his reputation grew and it 
finally was conceded, in the midst of great merriment, that 
he was as light of foot as the slimmest Panamanian of them 
all. 

Having always been used to my husband's dancing, and 
knowing how much he likes it, I never thought of it as any- 
thing unusual, but during the days when he was being 
"boomed" for the Presidency and was therefore much in 
the public prints, it was made the subject of frequent jest. 
I have one bit of doggerel in my scrap-book which appeared 
in the Baltimore American after the reception we gave on 
the occasion of General Kuroki's visit to this country, and 
the last verse of which runs : 

That Taft is just a wonder 

Is a thing which we all know ; 
That as Presidential thunder 

His big boom is like to go. 
But as butterfly, blooms sipping, 

And as waltzer, simply ripping! 
'Tis a sight to see Taft tripping 

On the light fantastic toe ! 

As a matter of fact he dances exceedingly well, if his wife 
who has been dancing with him for the past thirty years 
may say so. 

When we returned from the Pearl Islands to Panama City 
that evening we were met by a pleasing surprise. The text 
of the agreement which had been reached by Mr. Taft and 
the government of Panama, and which had not been men- 
tioned by anybody all day, had been made public during our 
absence and newsboys were crying "extras" in all the streets, 
while excited groups stood about here and there wreathed in 
smiles and talking with great animation. Everybody 

288 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

seemed wholly satisfied and wherever we went we were met 
with cheers and cries of "Viva!" 

The keynote sounded in this agreement was that justice 
should be done at Panama. Mr. Taft interpreted the treaty 
between our country and the infant republic; he adjusted 
the differences with regard to postal regulations and the 
tariff; he defined the harbour boundaries; and, much to the 
satisfaction of the Panamanians, he kept within the hands 
of the American authorities all matters pertaining to the 
public health. The people realised the necessity for a 
pure water supply, for sewer systems, clean and well-paved 
streets, and the elimination of the dread diseases which made 
the Isthmus a death trap for white men, and all these things 
America offered to Panama as a free gift that the great 
work of building the Canal might go on. If vociferous 
cheers are an expression of gratitude the people were grate- 
ful. 

The next day a great demonstration took place in Cathe- 
dral Plaza. We stood on a balcony of the Grand Central 
Hotel, on one side of the square and opposite the Cathedral, 
and looked out across a veritable sea of moving, swaying, 
white-clad humanity. As far as one could see in every di- 
rection there were people, and when Mr. Taft stepped to 
the balcony rail to address them they gave voice to a cheer 
which made it seem certain that all cause for quarrel between 
us had happily been removed. 

There had been vague rumours that the deposed War 
Minister of the Panama government who had attempted to 
start the rebellion would, with his followers, take this occa- 
sion to make a hostile demonstration, but he was evidently 
sensible enough to realise that his was an unpopular cause. 
Moreover, his original army of two hundred and fifty men 
had been reduced to twenty-five, and if that were not dis- 
couraging enough he had only to contemplate the natty 
American Marine corps in the Canal Zone and the Pacific 

289 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

squadron, including the New York, the Boston, the Ben- 
nington and the Marblehead, lying out in Panama harbour 
unobtrusively but very positively guaranteeing peace. 

Mr. Taft in his speech to the Panamanians was earnest. 
He was imbued with the spirit of conquest as represented in 
our Panama Canal enterprise. It was to be a conquest of 
nature's own forces in their most formidable aspects and 
he expressed a determination to enforce, during his term of 
administration, the laws necessary to make that conquest 
possible, and capping all his promises of fair treatment to 
the people of Panama, he emphasised an insistence upon 
orderly government in the little republic which brought forth 
round after round of applause. 

He was destined to have 'almost endless difficulties of 
various sorts in the Canal Zone, but he had the great 
privilege of occupying an administrative office, first as Sec- 
retary of War and then as President, until the end of the 
work was in sight and all the problems had been fully solved. 
During those eight years, wherever he might be or whatever 
business happened to be temporarily paramount, Canal ques- 
tions were with him always and were always given first con- 
sideration. 

The history of the Panama Canal is divided into two 
great periods. The first covers the full discussion and 
final settlement of the question as to which route should be 
adopted, the Nicaraguan or the Panama; the negotiation of 
the Hay-Herran Treaty with Colombia, by which we were 
given the right to complete the Panama Canal, and under 
which we secured all the rights of the French Panama Canal 
Company; the rejection of the Hay-Herran Treaty with 
Colombia; the revolution of Panama; the establishment of 
the Panamanian Republic and its recognition by President 
Roosevelt, the negotiation of the Hay-Varilla Treaty with 
Panama, by which we acquired dominion over the Canal 
Zone, and the right to build the Canal from the Republic of 

290 




MR. TAFT AND COLONEL COETHALS, IN PANAMA 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Panama, guaranteeing at the same time the integrity of that 
Republic. During all this period Mr. Taft was in the 
Philippines. In February, 1904, when he became Secretary 
of War, the Hay-Varilla Treaty was pending in the Senate. 
In a few weeks thereafter, it was consented to by the Senate, 
the Panama Commission was appointed, and early that 
spring the second period of the construction of the Canal 
began. The work was placed by the President under Mr. 
Taft as Secretary of War. From that time until his retire- 
ment from the office of President, March 4, 1913, the con- 
struction was constantly under his supervision. Sometime 
this history must be written. The chief crises in this work 
as he has recited them were the organisation of the force un- 
der the Commission, the adjustment of the relations of Pan- 
ama to the work under the treaty, the change of engineers 
from Mr. Wallace to Mr. Stevens, the consideration by an 
International Commission, with a divided report, as to the 
proper type of the Canal, whether sea level or lock, the very 
close fight in Congress to sustain the Administration view in 
favor of the lock type, the settlement of the issue whether the 
Canal should be built by contract or by Government agency, 
the selection of a successor to Mr. Stevens when he resigned, 
and the placing of the work under Army engineers and the 
selection of Colonel Goethals as the man to take the respon- 
sibility, the adjustment of critical labour troubles, and the 
confirmation by a Commission of the security of the founda- 
tion of the Gatun Dam. These were the points of critical 
importance in Mr. Taft's Administration. In deciding the 
questions which came to him, it was necessary for him to visit 
the Canal seven times in as many years, and I went with him 
on three of his visits. The contrast between the Canal when 
we first visited it and were the guests of Mr. Wallace, the 
first engineer, and as it was when we were the guests of 
Colonel Goethals in 1912, when the Gatun Lake was more 
than half filled and nothing but the slides in the Culebra Cut 

291 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

remained for excavation, it is most interesting to look back 
upon. I was twice the guest of Colonel and Mrs. Goethals, 
and the beautiful view of the Canal Valley from the win- 
dows of their house in the town of Culebra, which has now 
disappeared, will long remain in my mind. 

It was not long after our return to Washington from 
the first trip to Panama before arrangements were completed 
for the tour of the big Congressional party which Mr. Taft 
"personally conducted" to the Philippines and back, and 
which was destined to be slightly overshadowed as a Con- 
gressional party by the personality of Miss Alice Roosevelt 
who, under the chaperonage of Mr. Taft and Mrs. New- 
lands, made the trip just, as Kipling sings, "for to be'old 
and for to see." 

Knowing that I should have an opportunity to go again 
to the Far East in two years to be present at the inaugura- 
tion of the first Philippine Assembly, I decided to remain 
behind this time. I did not think I would much enjoy this 
brief busy trip to the Orient with three children and decided 
that a quiet summer in England would be better for us all. 
So I took a cottage in Oxford for the summer and with my 
two younger children and one of my Cincinnati friends and 
her two children made various trips here and there and found 
myself most pleasantly entertained. It was an exceedingly 
quiet summer, unbroken save by the somewhat lurid accounts 
which we gathered from the British and European press of 
the progress of the Congressional party with Mr. Taft and 
Miss Alice Roosevelt in the East. One German paper went 
so far as to announce that Miss Roosevelt was undoubtedly 
engaged to be married to her father's War Secretary. 

It was my intention to sail from Southampton and meet 
Mr. Taft in New York on his arrival from the East. We 
had been inveighing all summer against the British system 
of handling luggage and when we went to look after our 
trunks in the Oxford station we were charmed to find that 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

a new method of labelling had been introduced and that 
our luggage would travel down to London and across Lon- 
don to the station for Southampton without any assistance 
from us. We pocketed our British substitutes for Ameri- 
can baggage checks with considerable satisfaction and started 
on our way. 

When we arrived in London I sent the boys over to the 
station from which we were to leave for our steamer to 
make sure that our baggage had really been delivered as 
promised. Unfortunately the boys got to the station just 
as King Edward arrived, and they were so excited about 
getting a glimpse of the monarch that they gave up trying 
to look after baggage. We, having nothing else to do, 
drove to the station a full hour before the steamer train 
was to leave, and had occasion to congratulate ourselves for 
being so early. Our trunks were not in the station. My 
friend jumped in a hansom and rushed to the station 
where we had come in. I spent the time ransacking every 
corner and looking over piles of all kinds of luggage and 
three-quarters of an hour passed before a telephone message 
came to say the trunks were found and that they had started 
across town. 

But the train would leave in five minutes! I was fran- 
tic. Otherwise I should never have played my last card 
and exposed myself to the jibes of my family forever after. 
I rushed into the office of the station-master determined to 
overawe him by revealing to him my official position. 

"I am Mrs. William Howard Taft of Washington," I 
cried. "I must get my trunks on that boat train. They'll 
be here in a few minutes. Can't you hold it for me !" 

He looked at me blankly. 

"My husband is the Secretary of War of the United 
States," I went on desperately. 

"I am very sorry, Madam," he began, then I made my last 
effort. 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"You must have heard of him. He's travelling now with 
Miss Alice Roosevelt." 

At last I had produced the effect I desired. Immediately 
the station was my castle. The station-master was my hum- 
ble servant. He accompanied me out, ordered the train held, 
and superintended a whole obsequious force which hustled 
our baggage aboard as soon as it arrived. Since we made 
the boat, which we would not otherwise have done, I was 
able to bear the chaffing of my children and friends when 
they continued to refer to me as The Mrs. Taft whose hus- 
band was travelling with Miss Alice Roosevelt. 

Early in the autumn of 1906 the American Consul Gen- 
eral at Havana began cabling to the government at Wash- 
ington that the Cuban republic under President Palma was 
rapidly going to pieces. What was described as "devastat- 
ing and paralysing civil strife" was rampant, and a serious 
insurrection was threatened. 

The Constitution of the Cuban republic and the Cuban 
Treaty with the United States contains a "self-acting" 
clause, known as the Piatt Amendment, which was intro- 
duced by the United States Congress, and which provides for 
American intervention in Cuban affairs whenever such inter- 
vention is deemed requisite to a continuance of peace and 
good government in the island. 

Sometime during the first week in September the situation 
became acute and President Palma, fearing that it would 
become formidable and knowing that he had no adequate 
force to protect life and property, urgently, though secretly 
begged our government to send warships to his assistance. 
On September 12 he despatched a cablegram imploring that 
an American Army be landed in Havana at once to prevent 
a threatened massacre of citizens; on September 13 he de- 
cided to resign the Presidency and compel the United States 
to assume the responsibility of government; on September 14 
President Roosevelt called a conference at Oyster Bay where 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

it was decided that Mr. Taft should undertake the task of 
Cuban pacification, peaceful if possible — and on September 
20 Mr. Taft, accompanied by Mr. Robert Bacon, Assistant 
Secretary of State, as a fellow Peace Commissioner, landed 
at Havana. They didn't lose much time. 

Then began what Mr. Taft always refers to as "those 
awful twenty days." The people were divided into various 
warring factions, the result, largely, of political habits in- 
herited from the old Spanish regime wherein a new party 
arose on the slightest provocation, basing its antagonism to 
the others on nothing finer nor more patriotic than individual 
desire for political patronage. 

President Palma still held the reins of government, but 
camped just outside Havana were twenty thousand men 
under arms ready at any moment to open hostilities. These 
insurgents, as well as the party in power, had appealed to the 
United States for intervention, but neither faction had any 
intention of accepting any form of compromise which did 
not include all their demands. 

For about a week the fiercest storm that Mr. Taft had ever 
encountered raged about his head. His one immediate de- 
sire was to avoid bloodshed. His investigations proved that 
no real obstacle to tranquillity, or to compromise, existed 
and he made every effort to induce the Cubans to settle their 
differences on high non-partisan grounds, each yielding some- 
thing to the other for the sake of the general good. But 
he found very little interest in the "general good." Indeed, 
all through his despatches during those days there runs a 
complaint that except with President Palma and a few others 
patriotism was not very apparent, that petty jealousies and 
personal ambitions, often of a brazen or a sordid nature, con- 
stituted the chief secret of all the dissension and strife. 

Events must have moved with feverish rapidity. The 
insurrectos demanded the annulment of the election which 
continued the Palma government in power, and the situa- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

tion developed new complications with every argument and 
piece of testimony presented by either side. Finally when 
it was decided to begin an investigation of election returns 
with the hope of arriving at a just conclusion, President 
Palma, who had certainly been elected by irregular methods, 
though with no connivance on his own part, promptly re- 
signed; his Congress failed to meet and elect his successor. 
To forestall a state of absolute anarchy, with the approval of 
President Roosevelt, Mr. Taft issued a manifesto proclaim- 
ing an American provisional government with himself as the 
provisional governor of the republic. This happened on the 
eighth day after his arrival in Havana. 

American marines had already been landed to guard the 
Treasury and a large force of United States troops, under 
General Frederick Funston, was in readiness to sail at once 
for Havana. 

There was a strong sentiment among the better elements 
of Cubans, and an almost unanimous expression on the 
part of foreign residents, in favour of annexation to the 
United States. Indeed, feeling ran so high on this point, 
and especially among those, of whatever nationality, with 
financial interests at stake in Cuba, that it was thought for 
a time that an effort would be made to stampede or force 
the United States government into such action. But Mr. 
Taft's Philippine experience proved of value to him in 
this crisis, and his proclamation provided only for a pro- 
visional government "to last long enough to restore order 
and peace and public confidence." The Cuban flag was not 
hauled down; no Cuban official was to be disturbed in the 
discharge of his regular duties; and the American flag was 
to fly over nothing but American troops. In other words, 
the Cuban Republic was not to cease for an instant to exist. 
It was a curious situation. 

Shortly after the provisional government was instituted, 
Mr. Magoon was appointed to relieve Mr. Taft in the 

296 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

office of governor, and was instructed to proceed at once to 
Havana. Mr. Taft cabled me and Mr. Bacon cabled to 
Mrs. Bacon, asking if we did not want to accompany Mr. 
Magoon, and, of course, we immediately decided to do so. 
We sailed on the Mascotte with the battleship Texas in our 
wake, carrying three hundred marines from Norfolk, and 
for the first time in my life I felt as if I were actually 
"going to war." There was such a sense of rush through- 
out the whole performance that it seemed tremendously 
serious. As a matter of fact, intervention was accomplished 
without the firing of a single gun, and when we landed at 
Havana, on the afternoon of the 10th of October, just 
twenty days after Mr. Taft's arrival on the scene, the 
principal enterprise in progress was the disarmament of 
insurgent troops which was by that time almost completed. 

When we landed in Cuba I found myself once again, 
although only for the moment "the first lady of the land," 
and we were received with much ceremony. It reminded 
me of Manila days. 

As we passed the Cabanas fortress at the entrance of 
Havana harbour the Texas fired a salute and the echo of 
the answering guns cracked and rattled from piers and sur- 
rounding sea-walls. Everything in the harbour dipped its 
flag as we came in, while from out of the maze of battle- 
ships and cruisers, transports, merchant vessels and shore 
boats we saw a launch approaching in the bow of which 
I could easily make out my husband's generous proportions. 
With him were his colleague, Mr. Bacon, his aide, Captain 
McCoy, and a second aide, Captain Jose Marti, an artillery- 
man and son of an old Cuban patriot whom he had ap- 
pointed to this position, to the intense gratification of the 
Cuban people. 

A second launch followed, bearing General Funston and 
his aide, Captain Cloman, while a third full of Cuban 
newspaper men brought up the rear. These newspaper 

297 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

men were the most engaging reporters I ever encountered. 
They didn't approach Mrs. Bacon and me with pads and 
pencils and a few ill-considered questions. No, indeed. 
They came bearing flowers, great, gorgeous bouquets for 
each of us, and we were permitted to receive these with- 
out having to say anything more compromising than: "It 
was a very pleasant voyage, thank you," and, "Yes, in- 
deed, we are very glad to get to Havana." 

When we reached the wharf of the Captain of the 
Port we found a large gathering of American naval offi- 
cers and Cuban citizens, and we were formally welcomed 
by Senor Julio de Cardenas, the Mayor of Havana, who 
was continuing to exercise his official authority exactly as 
if nothing unusual had occurred. He was accompanied 
by the members of the City Council and with them later 
escorted us to the Palace. 

As Mrs. Bacon and I stepped into our carriage the 
commander of the rebel army and his wife came up 
to welcome us with what the paper that evening described 
as "a floral offering," but we saw nothing of the de- 
posed President or his followers. Upon his resignation 
he had gone down into the country, where he was said to 
have been received with marked enthusiasm and sympathy. 
Nobody ever accused President Palma of being anything 
but an honest man and a sincere patriot, the victim of po- 
litical chicanery on the part of his supporters. It was 
afterward shown that he could easily have been re-elected 
without trickery, but dishonest politics were the only kind 
of politics that his people had yet learned how to play. 

When we arrived at the Palace, Mr. Taft, Mr. Bacon 
and Mr. Magoon went into a long conference in the gov- 
ernor's office, while I wandered around the imposing build- 
ing. It was about as cheerful as a mortuary chapel. It 
seemed to be admirably adapted for the display of gold lace, 
gorgeous decorations and lofty martial manners. After a 

298 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

brief inspection I sought the spacious discomfort of my own 
room and an hour's repose under a betasseled canopy. 

Mr. Magoon was not to assume the office of governor 
until disarmament was completed and an amnesty proclama- 
tion had been issued. Mr. Taft intended to leave him 
with no insurgents except those who refused to give up 
their arms, and these were no longer to be known as insur- 
gents. They were to be called bandits and were to be hunted 
down and treated as such. 

I was mistress of the Palace at Havana for just three 
over-crowded days. Before our arrival Mr. Taft and Mr. 
Bacon had been the guests of the American Minister, Mr. 
E. V. Morgan, at his beautiful home about nine miles out- 
side the city. This house stood between two insurgent 
camps and the mediators had to pass by automobile through 
rebel lines every morning and evening while the uncertain 
negotiations were in progress, but the strange part of this 
intervention was that it was welcomed by all the parties 
concerned except the intervening party, so the mediators 
were shown every courtesy. 

Mr. Taft did not take possession of the Palace immedi- 
ately after the President's abdication, but when Mr. Ma- 
goon was arriving he thought it wise to do so in order that 
he might induct him into the office and all its dignities with 
due form, and so it happened that we found him living there. 

On the afternoon after our arrival Mrs. Bacon and I 
gave a reception which I remember as a most notable affair. 
It was attended by hundreds of Cubans, by all the members 
of the different foreign colonies and by every American Army 
and Navy officer who was not at the moment on active duty. 
Everybody seemed to be especially happy and festive after 
the month of gloom, and the pretty white gowns, the gay 
Cuban colours and the crisp smartness of American uniforms 
mingled together in the great rooms with quite brilliant 
effect. While we stood shaking hands with the throng 

299 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

passing by in single file, the Municipal Band in the Park 
before the Palace played American music, from the latest 
ragtime back to "Swanee River," interspersed with well- 
rendered classics and a few gay, lilting airs peculiarly 
Spanish. 

On the following afternoon Mr. Morgan tried to outdo 
the affair at the Palace with a reception in our honour at 
his house, and succeeded admirably. Mr. Taft had written 
of Mr. Morgan : "He is something of a sybarite. He has 
a very fine house, a French cook and all the luxuries, and 
we are being exceedingly well taken care of; — though I do 
think we eat too much!" In fact, Mr. Morgan is a true 
host, combining imagination and great ability with the wish 
to entertain. His house at Havana was like a scene from 
some tropical grand opera. Standing in the midst of fine 
gardens heavy with groups of big drooping palms and ferns, 
and bright with wide spaces of green lawn, it seemed like 
a veritable story-book house. It had wide corridors and a 
quaint, moss-softened patio, in the middle of which a foun- 
tain played over a mass of brilliant tropic plants. The 
spacious rooms were filled with curios and art treasures from 
all parts of the world, and I was especially interested in a 
splendid collection of brass-bound and inlaid Korean chests. 
Mr. Morgan was America's last Minister to Korea, being 
transferred from Seoul to Havana when Japan established 
her Korean protectorate. 

Although it was nine miles out to Mr. Morgan's house, 
everybody came, and it was said to be the most representa- 
tive gathering of the city's leading families that had been 
seen in many a day. Of course there was music and dancing 
and refreshments and all the elements which go to make up 
an enjoyable entertainment, and even though there was a 
general celebration going on in the city, the crowds took 
their departure reluctantly. 

The general celebration was in commemoration of the 

300 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

anniversary of the outbreak of the Ten Years' War in 1858, 
and it was strange to see all parties uniting in a demonstra- 
tion of what seemed to be real patriotism. Havana was 
decorated in regular old-fashioned Fourth of July style, and 
there were parades and speeches, bands, banners and fire- 
works, just as if Cuba were the solidest little Republic in the 
world. One really couldn't take the situation very seriously 
after all, — except that it was costing the country a great 
deal of money and certainly would have cost many foolish 
lives had it not been taken in hand so promptly. 

The next morning we inaugurated Governoon Magoon 
and took our departure, leaving him to his uncomfortable 
fate. I remember later a cartoon depicting him as sitting 
in agony on a sizzling stove labelled "Cuba," while Mr. 
Taft appeared in the distance in a fireman's garb carrying 
a long and helpful-looking line of hose. But that illus- 
trated subsequent history. 

We sailed from Havana on the battleship Louisiana, 
escorted by the Virginia and the North Carolina, Mr. and 
Mrs. Bacon, General Funston, Mr. Taft and I, on the 
13th of October, just twenty-nine days from the day on 
which Mr. Roosevelt had called the momentous conference 
at Oyster Bay to decide what should be done about Cuba, 
and we escaped by only a few hours the terrible storm which 
swept east from the Gulf of Mexico that same evening. 
It was one of the worst storms the locality had ever known. 
It did untold damage to property, killed a number of people 
and by cutting the island off from outside communication 
gave the United States a short period of acute uneasiness on 
account of the thousands of American soldiers quartered in 
Cuba and the big fleet of American battleships lying in Ha- 
vana harbour. The waters of Hampton Roads were so 
rough that after boarding the Dolphin for the trip up the 
Chesapeake and the Potomac to Washington we went ashore 
at Fort Monroe and took the train. 

301 



CHAPTER XIV 

BUSY YEARS 

These were the days when Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Root and 
Mr. Taft were known and very aptly caricatured as "The 
Three Musketeers," a thing which both pleased and amused 
them. Mr. Roosevelt was, of course, D'Artagnan, Mr. Root 
was Athos and Mr. Taft was Porthos, and they worked to- 
gether in such harmony and with such high mutual regard 
as one remembers now with singular satisfaction. 

Mr. Hearst was running against Mr. Hughes for Gov- 
ernor of New York, and the situation in Idaho, complicated 
by the murder of Governor Steunenberg and the activities 
of the anarchistic element in the Western Federation of 
Miners, seemed also to demand special attention from 
the Administration, so Mr. Root was delegated to "hurl the 
spear of civilisation and right thinking" in New York, while 
Mr. Taft was sent into the West with Idaho as the climax 
of his itinerary. 

All this had been arranged for him while he was away 
on the mission of averting disaster in Cuba, and when he re- 
turned to Washington he had just time, as he expressed it, 
"to pack the War Department into a suitcase" before he 
was off on a speech-making trip which took him from Balti- 
more through Ohio, Illinois, Nebraska, Wyoming and Idaho 
and back through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Or- 
leans to Washington, with only such time for preparation 
of speeches as he could get on the trains between stops. 

His letters to me were dictated to his stenographer, and 
in re-reading them I get the impression that I was made the 
victim of his thinking processes since he poured into them 
all the politics and the turmoil of the hour, together with 
lengthy comments which kept me very much alive with inter- 
est in the campaign in which he was engaged. 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

About this time there appeared in the New York Sun an 
editorial which pleased me and which expressed the rush 
of our lives with singular vividness. It said in part : 

Merely to record the movements and missions of the Secretary of 
War requires a nimble mind. He journeys from Washington to 
Manila to reassure ten millions of natives restive under an experi- 
mental scheme of civil government and turns up in Panama to 
speed the digging of the Isthmian Canal. To give a fillip to a 
campaign for reform in some western State, or direct the southern 
Republicans in the way they should go, or enlighten the people 
Down East as to the President's home policy, or illuminate the 
recesses of a problem in jurisdiction for the benefit of a bar asso- 
ciation, is only a matter of grabbing a time table and throwing a 
change of clothing into a travelling bag. Such are mere relaxa- 
tions and holiday jaunts for the Hon. William H. Taft. 

A Cuban revolution would be a poser to most statesmen, and 
to an ordinary Secretary of War a labour of Hercules; but to the 
business of bringing peace with honour to a distracted land, de- 
posing one government and setting up another, meanwhile gratify- 
ing everybody and winning the esteem of the fiercest warrior, Mr. 
Taft devotes only one page of the Calendar and takes ship for the 
States to resume his routine duties as if he had done nothing out 
of the common. 

But routine duties in Washington do not hold him long. An 
itinerary is made up for him and he plunges into the stress and 
turmoil of a political campaign. He is to make speeches in Ohio 
and Illinois, and Idaho claims him too. From Havana to Poca- 
tello is something of a change and a far cry, but it is all in the 
day's work for William H. Taft ... all nice problems look alike 
to the Secretary of War who should be called the Secretary of Peace, 
so uniform is his success in smoothing the wrinkled front of con- 
flict and making two laughs echo where one groan was heard before. 

No emergency, no exigency can put the Hon. William H. Taft 
down. With a heart for any fate, buoyant as hope, versatile as 
the kaleidoscope, indefatigable as fate and indomitable as victory, 
he is a most amazing and effective Secretary of War. "Cabinet 
help" when William H. Taft is the instrument and medium, is 
tantamount to the energy and force of a whole Administration. 
Yet there are those who would circumscribe his activities by in- 
vesting him with the robes and immobile dignity of judicial office. 

303 . 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

This subject of my husband's appointment to the Su- 
preme Bench cropped up with what seemed to me to be 
rather annoying frequency. While we were in Cuba it was 
rumoured that he would be asked to fill the vacancy created 
by the retirement of Justice Brown, but the report correctly 
stated that he would be likely to refuse the appointment 
because of the rapidly developing possibility that he would 
be the Republican nominee for the Presidency the following 
year. 

At this time Mr. Taft was all but impervious to any 
friendly advice which, being followed, would have tended 
to enhance his own political advantage. He was not play- 
ing politics for himself; he was attending strictly to busi- 
ness, fully imbued with the conviction that the public de- 
sired a continuation of the Administration as it stood. Mr. 
Roosevelt's personal popularity could not be denied nor in 
any way belittled, but he had already announced that he 
was not a candidate for a third term, and all over the coun- 
try the party was organising to support Mr. Taft, while a 
number of other names were prominently mentioned as "pos- 
sibilities." Mr. Roosevelt had assured my husband that he 
could count on his support, and he also urged him to lose no 
opportunity to give personal encouragement and impetus to 
the campaign that was being started in his behalf. But 
Mr. Taft paid very little attention, and never did he cease 
to regard a Supreme Court appointment as vastly more de- 
sirable than the Presidency. If his letters of that period 
could be read it would readily be seen that he was a most 
difficult candidate for his loyal and eager supporters to 
manage. 

About this time, in conversation with Mr. Roosevelt in 
respect to Mr. Taft's candidacy, I got the impression that 
he was discouraged over my husband as a candidate be- 
cause he had avoided co-operation with certain political 
organisations in the West, and, further, that Mr. Roosevelt 

304 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

thought he might have to join with other Republicans in 
supporting Governor Hughes, because Mr. Taft was such a 
poor politician. 

I reported this to Mr. Taft and urged him to display a 
little more enthusiasm on his own account, but in reply I got 
a good-natured reminder that there was "plenty of time," to- 
gether with an analysis of the public feeling which, he 
decided, was not running in his favour at all. He wrote 
to Mr. Roosevelt: 

Mrs. Taft writes me that you are disposed to lecture me for 
not being more cordial in co-operation with some of my . . . friends 
who want to organise a campaign for me for the presidential 
nomination. I told them just exactly what the fact was and noth- 
ing more, and I don't find myself equal to becoming part of any 
organisation of that sort. The truth is in . . . and some of the 
other States, if a man does not join in a way as to imply a kind of 
obligation to look after these people, should success follow, there 
is no particular enthusiasm in his favour, and in my state of indif- 
ference about it the organisation is not likely to follow me. 

Mrs. Taft said that you said you might have to support Hughes 
for the presidency. If you do you may be sure that you will 
awaken no feeling of disappointment on my part. While I very 
much appreciate your anxiety that I shall be nominated, and re- 
gard it as the highest compliment possible to me, and as a most 
gratifying evidence of your good will, you know what my feeling 
has been in respect to the presidency, and can understand that it 
will not leave the slightest trace of disappointment should you 
change your views and think it wise to make a start in any other 
direction. 

In Mr. Roosevelt's reply to Mr. Taft, he said I had mis- 
understood him, that what he had said was that Mr. Taft 
must not be too entirely aloof because if he were it might 
dishearten his supporters and put all Republicans in such 
shape that some man like Governor Hughes, or more proba- 
bly some man from the West, would turn up with so much 
popular sentiment behind him that there would be no course 
open but to support him. 

3°$ 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The 1905 campaign was a hotly contested one. The Re- 
publicans won in New York and Idaho, and generally, I 
believe, though I remember those two States especially, and 
I find Mr. Taft writing to Mr. Root from Ft. Leavenworth, 
Kansas, on his way back from Boise City: 

Dear Athos: 

I saw a copy of your speech when I was in the "wilds" of 
Idaho, and I cannot tell you the comfort it gave me to read it, and 
how it intensified the affection and admiration I have always had 
for the speaker. I can just think of your making up your mind 
to say the thing and do the thing that the occasion demanded. . . . 
You selected the psychological moment, and I have no doubt that you 
did a great deal to prevent Hearst's election, and I do not doubt also 
that you are receiving the commendations of your grateful fellow 
citizens of New York, and all over the country, as you ought to, 
for hurling your spear full and fair at this "knight of evil." . . . 

From everything I have seen in the west my judgment is that 
the President cannot avoid running again. . . . There is no real 
second choice where I have been. Of course there are compli- 
mentary allusions to others. ... So far as you and I are con- 
cerned I think we are well out of it, and whatever may be our 
ambitions for honourable service, there is a compensation in not 
having to be exposed to the horrors of a campaign with this product 
of yellow journalism whom you have had so much satisfaction in 
sending down to defeat for a time. 

Apropos of this victory, Mr. Roosevelt wrote to Mr. Taft : 

Upon my word I do not know which to be the more proud of, 
what Root did in New York or what you did in Idaho. 

When Mr. Taft got back to Washington he found the fol- 
lowing letter from Mr. Root, which completes the triangle 
of this mutual admiration society of the Three Musketeers : 

Dear Porthos: 

I have been disappointed that your most important and ad- 
mirable speech in Idaho has not been more freely published and 
commented on in the East. I have just suggested to the Editor of 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The Outlook that he ought to print it in extenso and call atten- 
tion to it. He will apply to you directly for it and I hope you 
will let him have it. 

I am going to start Saturday afternoon to be away for a week, 
and if you see any gaping lids about my Department in the mean- 
time, please sit on them gently. 

Faithfully yours, 

Elihu Root. 

"Sitting on the lid" was not in any sense the stationary 
and reposeful performance the expression seems to suggest. 
Before Mr. Taft returned to Washington from a tour of 
inspection of brigade posts, which followed immediately 
upon his trip to Idaho, Mr. Roosevelt had gone to Panama, 
leaving behind him various questions, including the one 
which resulted from the discharge without honour of the 
three companies of coloured troops at Brownsville, Texas, 
for the Secretary of War to keep within bounds until his 
return. Then there were many matters of a purely execu- 
tive nature which, as long as they did not require the signa- 
ture of the President himself, Mr. Taft was authorised and 
expected to dispose of. And with the Secretary of State 
also absent, his office became government headquarters, prac- 
tically, where foreign Ambassadors, Senators and officials 
of other Departments had to take their chances of an inter- 
view along with visitors or representatives from the Philip- 
pines, Hawaii, Cuba, Porto Rico, Alaska and the Canal 
Zone, and with Army officers and War Department clerks. 

I finally gave up all idea of ever getting him home to 
luncheon, but we nearly always had a dinner engagement, 
so along about the hour when I knew he would have just 
time to rush home and dress I would call him on the tele- 
phone. And then, if I were fortunate enough to get him 
without a disgraceful delay, he almost invariably came in, 
followed by an extra private secretary bearing a large port- 
folio of papers to be disposed of before such hour as he chose 
to consider bedtime. 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The winter of 1906-7 was too busy to remember as any- 
thing except a sort of hazy nightmare lightened in spots by 
contemplation of the delightful possibilities contained in 
a rapidly growing Presidential "boom," but it came to 
an end, and early in the summer I gathered up my family 
and a few necessary belongings and went to Murray Bay. 
We were to leave some time in August for the Philippines 
and the trip around the world via the Trans-Siberian Rail- 
way, and I wanted very much to have my husband get away 
for a few weeks of absolute detachment from public affairs, 
feeling sure that it would be his last opportunity for rest 
and relaxation for many a day. But no man can be a can- 
didate for President of the United States and indulge at 
the same time in even a short period of complete tranquillity. 
Before Mr. Taft joined me he, in deference to the wishes 
of the men who were conducting his "boom," made an- 
other speech-making trip through the West on the method 
so aptly described as "whirlwind," and did not arrive in 
Murray Bay until the first week in July. 

It just occurs to me that I have covered all these different 
periods of our lives without even mentioning Murray Bay, 
although a large part of the Taft family has been spending 
the summers there for twenty years or more. We went 
there before the place became in any sense "fashionable," 
when the only kind of hotel accommodation was in quaint 
old inns of the real French-Canadian type in which no Eng- 
lish was spoken, but where service of such delightfully sim- 
ple and satisfactory quality as can no longer be obtained was 
smilingly offered at rates which would now be considered 
absurdly low. After our first year in 1892 we always had 
a cottage, — and on going to Murray Bay we prepared to 
enjoy ourselves in the luxury of complete simplicity. 

The cottage which we have occupied for a number of years 
is perched on a rocky headland overlooking the sixteen miles 
wide stretch of the St. Lawrence river and almost entirely 

308 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

hidden in a dense grove of fragrant pine trees. It is roomy 
and comfortable, but simple as a camp in the woods, being 
finished in unpainted pine and furnished with only such 
things as may be locked up and left year in and year out. 
There is nothing to tempt any possible robber, the only 
distinctive things in the house being some Philippine curios, 
wall decorations and floor mats, called "petates," which 
we have brought with us at different times from Manila. 

Mr. Taft stayed at Murray Bay about five weeks, but 
during that time our cottage in the woods was the United 
States War Department and headquarters of a very probable 
Presidential candidate. Then, too, Mr. Taft was beset 
with the nagging necessity for preparing speeches which 
were really to launch his campaign for the nomination before 
he left for the trip around the world. The campaign in 
Ohio became centred and active during the summer, with 
Mr. Taft far in the lead among possible candidates, and all 
over the country organisations were forming which de- 
manded whole-hearted and unremitting attention. 

The busy man wrote to Mr. Roosevelt: "I am enjoy- 
ing my vacation," but his vacation consisted in a release 
from constant social formalities and a daily round of golf 
on the links of the Murray Bay Club which he liked so much 
and over which he had played for so many years, — nothing 
more. 

Early in August he left for Washington with the under- 
standing that I should complete arrangements, and taking 
Charlie with me, should meet him at the entrance of Yellow- 
stone Park at the end of the month. In the meantime he 
had one more long speech-making trip to begin at Columbus 
on the 19th of August and to take him through Ohio, Ken- 
tucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and to Denver. 

His mother, to whom the whole family was strongly de- 
voted, was at this time very ill. It did not seem possible 
that she could be with us for long, and all of her sons wished 

309 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

sincerely to be able to remain near her. One of them, 
Horace, was able to do so, but when my husband declared to 
her his desire to give up the trip to the Philippines and stay 
in the United States until she recovered she said to him : 

"No Taft, to my knowledge, has ever yet neglected a 
public duty for the sake of gratifying a private desire. You 
promised the Filipinos that you would be present at the 
opening of their first Assembly, and if you should break that 
promise and neglect your plain duty on my account, it would 
give me no pleasure." 

This was the last serious thing she ever said to him, and 
it gave him great comfort throughout the long trip as the 
reports of her failing strength came to him. He never saw 
her again. 

With my son Charlie, who was then nearly ten years old, 
I met my husband and his party at Livingston Junction, 
on the Northern Pacific Railroad in Montana, and we pro- 
ceeded together to Gardiner at the entrance to Yellowstone 
Park. There we were met by General Young, the Superin- 
tendent of the Park, and Colonel Henry T. Allen, and by the 
head of the Park transportation company and began at once 
a wonderful three days' trip, which included, among other 
things, the business of inspecting the Army post with the 
purpose of making recommendations for changes in the Park 
patrolling system. 

As our time was very short we had to drive about fifty 
miles every day, which meant hurrying on at top speed, with 
relays of Army mules, and not much more than a how-d'ye-do 
and good-bye at every place we stopped. In consequence 
we completely lost track of the days of the week and made 
what I then thought would prove to be a fatal error. 

We got back to the Mammoth Springs Hotel one evening 
and found the place quite gay with crowds of tourists. 
There being nothing else to do, I suggested that after din- 
ner we play bridge in the lobby where all the people were 

310 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and where everything seemed so lively and entertaining. 
We did. Mr. Taft and I, General Clarence Edwards and 
another member of our party sat there and played until quite 
late, enjoying ourselves immensely. Everybody looked at 
us, and I noticed a few persons taking special pains to pass 
close enough for a really satisfactory inspection, but we were 
used to being gazed at and paid no attention to it. It was 
not until the next morning that every look that was cast 
upon us assumed for me a special meaning. The next 
morning was Monday ! 

Under any circumstances it would have shocked us some- 
what to find that through forgetfulness we had played 
bridge during a whole Sunday evening, but with Mr. Taft 
generally recognised as a probable candidate for President, 
our shock was merged into serious concern with regard to 
the effect the story might have on the millions of good Sab- 
batarians throughout the country. And there was no possi- 
ble explanation that we could make. Playing cards was 
bad enough, but to have forgotten Sunday altogether was a 
great deal worse, so we were perfectly helpless. Up to the 
day Mr. Taft was elected I looked for the story to rise up 
and smite us. I had visions of glaring headlines: "Taft 
Plays Cards on the Sabbath Day." Having been brought 
up on strictly Sabbatarian principles myself, I knew what 
good use could be made of the incident in the hands of our 
political enemies. But we never heard a word from it, and 
I have a warm regard for all those good people who failed to 
avail themselves of such an opportunity for a bit of valua- 
ble gossip. Or had they all forgotten it was Sunday, too? 

On the way from Yellowstone Park to Seattle I had a 
taste of real campaign work and always thereafter enjoyed 
a full realisation of its difficulties. I got completely worn 
out as a mere onlooker, and as I saw Mr. Taft encountering 
the throngs at every stopping place, speaking until his voice 
was reduced to a hoarse whisper, and shaking hands until 

3ii 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

he groaned with the ache of his muscles, my political en- 
thusiasm waned slightly, though temporarily, and I could 
think of nothing to be more thankful for at the moment 
than the fact that we were about to set out on a two weeks' 
ocean voyage, beginning a three months' trip around the 
world. 



312 



CHAPTER XV 

A HURRIED TRIP AROUND THE WORLD 

I have not the space to give a detailed account of this trip 
around the world. After a pleasant voyage on the steam- 
ship Minnesota we were given in Japan the same warm wel- 
come that we had always had there, and Mr. Taft and I 
were entertained at the Shiba Detached Palace, one of the 
Imperial residences. We lunched with the Emperor and 
also with Prince Fushimi, and we met the admirals and the 
generals who had won such distinction in the Russo-Japanese 
War. These included Admiral Togo and Field Marshal 
Prince Oyama. It was explained to Mr. Taft by the Court 
Chamberlain that we were regarded as personal guests of 
the Emperor. Marquis Saionji was then Premier, but 
Prince Katsura, whom he had succeeded and who was our 
old friend, was still powerful in the councils. Mr. Taft 
held a number of interesting and useful interviews with these 
statesmen of Japan, and also with the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, Count Hayashi, and with Marquis Terauchi, the 
Minister of War, who has now become Governor of Korea. 
He was able, from what they told him, to understand the 
attitude of Japan toward the United States, and to feel con- 
fident of her wish to remain in bonds of amity with us. At 
a dinner in Tokyo, given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Mr. Taft made a speech in which he pointed out the absurd- 
ity of a war between Japan and the United States, and 
showed how the true interests of both nations required a 
strengthening of the bonds of friendship between them. 
This speech attracted much attention throughout the Orient 
and was cabled back to the United States as an expression 
of the Administration on the subject. The Japanese resi- 
dents of Yokohama presented to Mr. Taft and me on this 
visit a very hansdome silver tea set. 

Our course took us by way of Shanghai and we stopped 

3i3 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

there for just one busy day. In the morning Mr. Taft ded- 
icated a Young Men's Christian Association building which 
had just been constructed and to the cost of which a number 
of Chinese Mandarins, though not Christians, had made sub- 
stantial contribution. The afternoon was devoted to shop- 
ping and to a most elaborate and picturesque reception and 
tea which was given for us by the Chinese guilds of the city. 
At this tea I was presented with a very curious and interest- 
ing bowl of Chinese silver which is among my most valued 
possessions. In the evening a great banquet was given by 
the leading citizens of Shanghai at the Astor Hotel, where 
provision was made for the ladies to hear the speaking from 
a platform erected at one end of the room. Mr. Taft made 
a speech on the subject of the relations of the United States 
to the development of China, which was long remembered 
as a succinct and forcible presentation of the policy of the 
United States toward that country, then in an interesting 
stage of its awakening from a long lethargy. 

In Manila, at the formal opening of the first Assembly, 
Mr. Taft laid down the purposes of the Administration in 
the passage of the Philippine Act, plainly saying to the 
Philippine people that independence was not near at hand, 
and that it could only come after a period of earnest effort 
on their part to fit themselves for complete self-government. 
His candour and frankness did not please many of the As- 
sembly, but his view has always been that the only way in 
which to deal with the Filipino people is to tell them the 
exact truth, unpalatable though it may be, and to fulfil 
promises with the greatest care. Filipinos may be very lax 
in discharging the full measure of their own assurances, but 
the way to maintain influence over them is to pursue a policy 
of clear and candid statement, full performance and exact 
justice. They are prone to accept every declaration in the 
same sense in which they would like to construe it, and the 
utmost care must be taken to prevent their being misled. 

3H 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Demagoguery with them is likely to be most pernicious in 
its ultimate results. 

During this visit we were the guests of Governor Gen- 
eral Smith at Malacafian Palace and I experienced a pleasant 
renewal of old impressions and sensations. Mr. W. Cam- 
eron Forbes, who succeeded Governor Smith, was then Sec- 
retary of Commerce and Police and, in this capacity, was in 
charge of Public Works. He had built for himself at 
Baguio a fine country residence which he called "Topside," 
a name which fits it exactly, since it stands, literally, at the 
"topside" of the island of Luzon, at an elevation of more 
than five thousand feet, and overlooks the broadest and most 
colourful stretch of mountain scenery imaginable. We vis- 
ited Mr. Forbes at "Topside" and were able to see for the 
first time the splendid achievements in the development of 
the summer capital which I anticipated in Chapter IX. 
Mr. Taft assured an enthusiastic enquirer that he was not 
surprised at the magnificence of the Benguet Road because 
he had authorised the expenditure of a sufficient amount to 
produce something unusual, and that he would, indeed, have 
been surprised if it hadn't been done. But he had to con- 
fess to a little surprise at the improvement of the town of 
Baguio. The difference was so great that it was almost 
impossible to recognise the place as the site of the ragged 
little Igorrote village where I had spent such pleasant and 
"uncivilised" days just before my husband's inauguration 
as the first governor of the Philippines. 

It would be useless for me to attempt to detail the thou- 
sand and one events of this visit to Manila. Upon our 
arrival we were handed a printed schedule of dinners, 
luncheons, teas, receptions, balls, meetings, celebrations, 
trips of inspection, and business conferences which we had 
to do our best to carry out. Fortunately provision was 
made for a few hours of rest which could be used for other 
things when we got behind with the programme. 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

On a day in November, when blue Manila Bay lay spark- 
ling in the sun, we set sail for Vladivostok on the U. S. S. 
Rainbow, flying the flag of Admiral Hemphill, and con- 
voyed by two other naval vessels. The most amusing inci- 
dent of this trip, which was quite a tempestuous one, was 
the gradual freezing up of our Filipino orchestra. They 
left Manila clad in natty white uniforms, responding with 
enthusiasm to the strains of the many bands on shore and 
on the fleet of harbor launches which accompanied us down 
the bay. They played for us at dinner that night and gave 
a concert on deck the next day, but then began the rapid 
descent of the mercury in the thermometers and the con- 
sequent undoing of our tropical musicians. They first 
changed into heavy blue uniforms and tried their best to 
look comfortable. Then they put on their overcoats and 
kept them on. Finally they deserted the deck altogether 
and their rather disconnected strains came up to us through 
a partly open hatch just over the engine room. When we 
reached the forbidding harbour of Vladivostok, where the 
temperature stood below zero, the poor bugler was so thor- 
oughly cold that he couldn't adjust his lips to his bugle to 
pipe distinguished visitors aboard. Our party on this trip 
around the world was small, including only my son Charlie, 
Mr. Taft's secretary, Mr. Fred C. Carpenter, General Clar- 
ence R. Edwards, Mr. and Mrs. Martin Egan and two other 
newspaper correspondents. 

Shortly before we reached Vladivostok there had been a 
mutiny on one of the torpedo boats in the harbour, and a 
woman anarchist had induced the crew to take the boat out 
into the stream and raise the red flag. This outbreak was 
suppressed with a heavy hand, and a number of those sus- 
pected of complicity in the plot were arrested. As the Gov- 
ernor had power of life and death over them it was assumed 
that the extreme penalty was visited on some of them at 
least, but no publicity was given to the proceedings. The 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

effect of the tragedy upon our arrival, however, was marked. 
The town was in a most unquiet state and there were vague 
rumours of danger to be met on every hand. We were not 
permitted to go ashore without a heavy guard of bristling 
Cossacks, and everywhere we went we were under the closest 
and most careful protection. It was most exciting, though 
in the midst of the cordial hospitality of our Russian hosts 
we could not feel that there was the slightest cause for ap- 
prehension. As soon as we dropped anchor in the harbour 
we were welcomed to Vladivostok by the Governor and 
General Commanding. He assigned Prince Bariatinski, 
Colonel of a regiment stationed at Vladivostok, to act as 
Mr. Taft's aide during our stay, and from Saturday until 
Tuesday he and the Princess, both of whom spoke English, 
were with us constantly, adding much to our enjoyment. 
Our visit concluded with a dinner and ball given by the Gov- 
ernor, and the next morning we bade good-bye to the Rain- 
bow and Admiral Hemphill and made our way, surrounded 
by Cossack guards, to the railway station where the train 
waited to start on its twelve days' trip across Siberia. The 
government provided us with a large private car of the 
armoured variety which contained a number of compart- 
ments that were fully as spacious and comfortable as an 
average steamship cabin and we settled ourselves in them 
quite as we would have done on a trans-Pacific liner. 

The trip across Siberia is exceedingly interesting. One 
anticipates endless monotony, but only the landscape lacks 
variety. For days together the train runs along through a 
country which looks exactly like South Dakota or Nebraska 
and which is interesting only in its wonderful possibilities. 
It is one of the world's open spaces, undeveloped but capable 
of producing anything. I had always imagined Siberia as 
a country filled with sadness and I expected it to depress 
me, but it arouses no such feeling. We met trainload after 
trainload of happy Russian colonists on their way to the 

3i7 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

new settlements, and at all the well-built stations along the 
way we saw a great number of sturdy peasant farmers and 
their families who looked thoroughly comfortable and con- 
tented. We whiled away the hours with bridge and books, 
and, though the train never made more than two or three 
stops a day, the time passed quickly. Throughout the 
journey our car was guarded by stalwart Russian soldiers in 
most picturesque uniforms, stationed on both platforms, and 
each time the train stopped this guard was changed with 
considerable ceremony. ' Also at every station near an army 
post Mr. Taft was greeted by the Commander of the Dis- 
trict with strict military form, all of which added colour 
and interest to the journey. 

Mr. Willard D. Straight, then United States Consul at 
Mukden, met us at Vladivostok with plans for our reception 
at Mukden. When we arrived there we were welcomed by 
a company of Chinese soldiers dressed in the old Mongolian 
custom, and by a squadron of Cossacks. We were hurried 
in a carriage behind two fast trotting Orloff horses to a hotel 
where all the consuls assembled greeted us with cakes, cham- 
pagne and very short speeches. There was considerable ex- 
citement among the consuls with regard to the toasts to be 
drunk and the order of precedence in which the rulers of 
the different countries were to be named, but Mr. Straight 
was diplomatic enough to mention every proper name in 
right order and the result was a round of congratulation and 
merriment. In the meantime the leisurely and accommo- 
dating train was waiting, so we hurried back to the station 
at the terrific pace usual to the Russian with his beautiful 
horses. No people not inherently fine could ever produce 
the kind of horses one sees in Russia. And the Russians 
love them. I can think of nothing more pleasing than the 
picture of a great, shaggy, gruff-voiced Russian coachman on 
the box of his carriage or droshky, gently urging his well- 

3i8 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

kept horse on to his best speed in terms of endearment. 
"On, Little Brother !" says he. 

At Moscow we were right royally entertained by the Gov- 
ernor-General of the city who did everything possible to 
make our visit memorable. We arrived late Saturday night 
and on Sunday the Kremlin was opened for our especial 
benefit and we were given full opportunity to see every part 
of that ancient and interesting home of Russian autocracy 
with all its collections of priceless treasures. A hurried 
round of entertainments, which included a special ballet 
performance at the Opera, ended with a dinner given by the 
Governor-General, and we left on the midnight train for St. 
Petersburg. We had not been there more than an hour or 
so the next morning when we received a telegram announc- 
ing that a woman Nihilist had thrown a bomb at the Gov- 
ernor's sleigh which had exploded under the horses, killing 
them and the coachman and throwing the Governor and his 
aide backward into the snow unharmed. As these gentle- 
men had both been very kind to us it brought home in a 
startling way the danger that attends high position in Russia. 

In St. Petersburg we dined with the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, M. Iswolski and Madame Iswolski, and with them 
received the Diplomatic Corps. Mr. Taft and General Ed- 
wards had an audience with the Czar and attended the 
annual Saint's day celebration of a famous regiment num- 
bering about 3,200, no man of which measures less than six 
feet two. They were also present at a luncheon which the 
Czar gave to the officers of this regiment at the Czar-Koe- 
Selo Palace. In the Czar's suite there were two or three 
gentlemen who remembered Mr. Taft's father as Minister 
to Russia, so he very greatly enjoyed the experience of meet- 
ing them. 

Our visit was a hurried one, and after a stay of three days 
we left for Berlin. Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Root were not 

319 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

disposed to have Mr. Taft visit any of the courts of Europe 
except at St. Petersburg and that only for the purpose of 
conveying his grateful acknowledgment of the courtesies 
shown us in our long trip across Siberia. Nor in the state 
of his mother's health, which we knew to be precarious, was 
he disposed to accept the invitations which he received from 
the German Emperor, the King of Belgium, the President 
of France and others, to visit their countries and become 
their guest. At Berlin we had just time to dine with the 
American Ambassador and Mrs. Tower, and to meet a few 
American friends whom they had invited in, then Mr. Taft 
and the other members of the party went to Hamburg to 
take the Steamship General Grant at that port, while I, with 
Mrs. Post Wheeler, rushed down to Paris to do a few hours' 
shopping, planning to join the Grant at Boulogne the next 
evening. In the meantime a terrible storm began to rage 
along the coast, and when we reached Boulogne there was 
some question about our being able to get to the Grant 
which lay at anchor just outside the breakwater. However, 
we boarded the little tender and she started for the very wild 
looking open channel. She had no sooner struck the heavy 
seas before she had broken her rudder and was being buf- 
feted about in a really terrifying manner. We managed in 
some way to get back inside the breakwater where some re- 
pairs were made, then we started out again. We repeated 
this performance several times, listening meanwhile to gen- 
erally voiced predictions that nothing on earth could save 
us from going to the bottom, and, although it was only nine 
o'clock in the evening when we boarded the little vessel, it 
was four o'clock in the morning before she came alongside 
the Grant and discharged her dilapidated and exhausted 
passengers. 

Mr. Taft had waited up for us and had seen the tender 
come out of the harbour and go back, and, assuming from 
what was told him that no attempt would be made to trans- 

320 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

fer the passengers before morning, he went to bed. When 
I got aboard the steamer, filled with excitement over the 
dangers through which I had passed, and found him peace- 
fully sleeping in his cabin, I declined to accept any explana- 
tion. A French sub-prefect, who had been sent out by the 
Minister of the Interior of France with greetings and com- 
pliments, and who had come in his full regimentals with a 
cocked hat, was waiting to see Mr. Taft and I was cruel 
enough to insist that he should get up and receive him. 
Throwing a long fur coat over his pajamas the Secretary of 
War of the United States walked out into the salon to meet 
the polite representative of the politest of peoples, but after 
a grave exchange of formal salutations the situation proved 
too much for their gravity. They burst out laughing at 
each other, to the immense enjoyment of the bystanders, and 
the gloom of the wee sma' hour was lifted. 

When we touched at Plymouth that afternoon we re- 
ceived a despatch announcing the death of Mr. Taft's 
mother. The funeral took place in Cincinnati, at the home 
of Mr. Charles Taft, several days before we could reach 
New York. 

On our return to the United States we found that my 
husband's rivals for the Republican nomination had been 
making great headway. Mr. Roosevelt was quite impatient 
at the loss of ground that Mr. Taft's candidacy had suf- 
fered and he urged him to take a more active interest in the 
situation. He insisted that Mr. Taft should change the 
subject of a speech which he had agreed to deliver in Boston 
from the Philippine problem to a discussion of the financial 
situation which was then acute after the depression which 
had taken place during our absence. Mr. Roosevelt's 
forcible expression was that the business and political public 
had no more interest in the Philippines than in the subject 
of "nature faking." 

I cannot go into the details of the preliminary convention 

321 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

fight. My husband's brother Charles devoted a full year to 
it, established headquarters in Ohio and Washington, and 
bore the brunt of the contest. The afternoon of the con- 
vention when the voting came, we all assembled at my hus- 
band's office in the War Department and received the news 
over the telephone as it came in. I have a series of photo- 
graphs, taken by a friend, of the expressions on my hus- 
band's face as the results of the voting were being announced. 
Soon after the nomination was made, on the first of July 
Mr. Taft resigned from the Cabinet, and we established our- 
selves at Hot Springs, Virginia, where he spent some weeks 
preparing his address of acceptance. This he submitted to 
Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Root before he went to Cincinnati 
to deliver it. Mr. Charles Taft made elaborate prepara- 
tions to receive and entertain the Committee of Announce- 
ment, and on a platform in front of his fine old house, in 
Pike Street, on one of the hottest days of the summer, my 
husband delivered his acceptance. We then returned to 
Hot Springs and spent another month in preparation for the 
campaign. From Hot Springs we went to Middle Bass 
Island on Lake Erie to spend a week or more there. We 
then went to Cincinnati. Upon this latter trip Mr. Taft 
made a good many speeches from the platform of our 
car. In September Mr. Bryan's campaign looked very 
hopeful. The opposition of Mr. Gompers and organ- 
ised labour seemed formidable. Mr. Taft determined 
to meet this issue fully and frankly. He was attacked 
because he had delivered a number of labour decisions 
supposed to be against the interest of labour. He had 
sent to jail, for six months, the chief lieutenant of Debs 
in the Debs railway rebellion of 1894, breaking it up in 
Cincinnati and the vicinity. He did not apologise in any 
way for the action he had taken. A meeting of the railway 
trade organisations was called in Chicago at Orchestra Hall, 
and there he explained his action, defended it, and avowed 

322 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

that were the same questions presented to him again, he 
would do the same thing he had done, and that he had no 
excuses to offer. From that point he made a long trip in 
the West, upon which I did not accompany him. I re- 
mained in Cincinnati with Mrs. Charles Taft and my sister 
Mrs. Anderson. It was the first political campaign in which 
Mr. Taft was a candidate before the people. The reports 
that came indicated that he had lost his voice, and I was 
greatly concerned lest he might break down in his strenuous 
labours and new experience. The ups and downs of such 
a campaign, the prophecies, the hopes, the fears aroused by 
favourable and opposing newspapers were all new and try- 
ing to me, and in a way I think I was under as great a nerv- 
ous strain as my husband was, without the steadying help 
of the hardest kind of work. However as the campaign 
drew near to a close, the Republican confidence grew 
stronger and stronger, so when we were assembled finally 
under the hospitable roof of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Taft, 
with a company of friends to receive the dispatches on elec- 
tion night, the news of the great success that came did not 
surprise us. 



323 



CHAPTER XVI 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Shortly after my husband's election, having spent a 
couple of restful weeks at Hot Springs, Virginia, we went 
to Augusta, Georgia, and took the old house known as 
the Terrett Cottage, near the Bon Air Hotel. To me the 
weeks we spent there were exceptionally happy ones and I 
should like to mention each friend — friends then and friends 
still — who contributed to our constant enjoyment, but there 
were too many of them and their kindnesses too numerous. 

Mr. Taft, of course, immediately became engrossed in the 
difficulties of securing a Cabinet which would satisfy every- 
body and disappoint none, — an impossibility, — as well as 
a thousand and one other matters not connected in any way 
with the daily games of golf on Augusta's sandy links 
which attracted such wide attention. But even then my 
own problems became to me paramount and I began to give 
them my almost undivided attention and to neglect the 
political affairs which had for many years interested me so 
intensely. Perhaps with my husband safely elected I con- 
sidered all important affairs satisfactorily settled. At any 
rate I found little time or inclination at the moment to worry 
about who should have the high offices in the new President's 
gift, or what policies should be pursued during his adminis- 
tration. 

At my request Captain Archibald Butt came down to 
Augusta to consult with me as to changes I wished to make 
in the White House service, and together we went over the 
whole situation. As President Roosevelt's aide he knew the 
whole lexicon of customary White House social formalities. 

I had been a member of Washington's official family for 
five years and knew as well as need be the various phases 
of the position I was about to assume, so my plans were 

3 2 4 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

not so difficult to put into form, however difficult I may have 
found them to put into execution. 

We made a trip to Panama in February before the Inau- 
guration and did not reach Washington until the end of the 
month when we went to stay with our friends, Mr. and Mrs. 
William J. Boardman, and their daughter, Miss Mabel 
Boardman, at their residence on Dupont Circle. We spent 
with them a busy week as the recipients of varied and de- 
lightful hospitality, which was terminated by a splendid 
reception in our honour on the evening of the second of 
March. 

Captain Butt, who was to be continued as aide to Presi- 
dent Taft, called on me at once upon my arrival in Wash- 
ington to assure me that my instructions had been carried 
out and that the new regime, fully organised, would go 
into effect at the White House on the morning of March 
fifth. 

Some time before the Inauguration, indeed shortly after 
Mr. Taft's election, President Roosevelt expressed a desire 
that we should dine with him and Mrs. Roosevelt on the 
evening of the third of March and spend that night in the 
White House as their guests. This was breaking a prece- 
dent, but it was Mr. Roosevelt's plan for bidding us a warm 
welcome to the post which he was about to vacate, and my 
husband accepted with grateful appreciation. My impres- 
sion is that neither Mrs. Roosevelt nor I would have sug- 
gested such an arrangement for this particular evening, but, 
it having been made for us, we naturally acquiesced. 

The third of March, a stormy day, was filled with innu- 
merable minor engagements and small incidents, with in- 
structions and counter-instructions and, especially, with 
weather predictions and counter-predictions, so it was not 
until shortly before eight o'clock that Mr. Taft and I, hav- 
ing dressed for dinner, arrived at the White House. The 
other guests at the dinner were Senator and Mrs. Lodge, 

3 2 5 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Senator and Mrs. Root, Admiral and Mrs. Cowles, Mr. and 
Mrs. Nicholas Longworth and Miss Mabel Boardman. 

Now there is always bound to be a sadness about the end 
of an administration, no matter how voluntarily the retiring 
President may leave office, no matter how welcome the new 
President and his family may be. Mrs. Roosevelt seemed 
depressed, not, I am sure, over the prospect of leaving the 
White House, — Presidents' wives are always given plenty 
of time to prepare themselves for that event, — but for other 
reasons which one easily could surmise. Her husband and 
son were about to start for a long and, possibly, dangerous 
trip into the jungles of Africa, and she was looking forward 
to a year of anxiety. She was leaving a full and busy life; 
she had occupied her high position for nearly eight years, 
during which she had made a host of friends, and a great 
number of them had called during the afternoon to say fare- 
well and to express their deep regret at her departure. I 
knew all of these things, realised their depressing effect and 
sympathised with her deeply. The President and Mr. Taft, 
seconded by other guests, did their best with stories and con- 
versation, made as general as possible, to lighten the occa- 
sion, but their efforts was not entirely successful. 

As my husband had an engagement to attend a "smoker" 
which was being given to him at the New Willard Hotel 
by a large gathering of Yale men, the party broke up very 
early and, as soon as the last of the guests had gone, I went 
immediately to my rooms. We had been assigned to the 
suite in the southeast corner, known in the White House as 
the Blue Bedroom. 

This Blue Bedroom gave me food for interesting reflec- 
tion. Conspicuous, under the mantel against the side wall, 
I found, on a bronze plate, the following inscription (which 
I read as I struggled with my hooks) : "In this room Abra- 
ham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation of Jan- 
uary 1, 1863, whereby four million slaves were given their 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

freedom and slavery forever prohibited in these United 
States." It is only a state bedroom now, having been made 
so by the plans of the McKim restoration which was accom- 
plished during the Roosevelt administration, but it was once 
Lincoln's Cabinet room, a room in which he lived through 
many terrible days during the Civil War. It seemed strange 
to spend my first night in the White House surrounded by 
such ghosts. 

I went to bed reasonably early, hoping that I might have a 
good, long sleep and get up refreshed and ready for an event- 
ful day. But the press of circumstances was against me. 
My mind was never more wide awake. In spite of my deter- 
mination to rest, I went carefully over the whole Inaugural 
programme. I wondered if this had been done, if that had 
been attended to. I worried over many petty details with 
which I had no reason to be concerned. I suppose I must 
have been excited, a condition quite rare with me, but then, 
too, the weather had something to do with it. Never was 
seen such a night in Washington. It will be remembered 
that Mr. Moore, the Chief of the Weather Bureau, had 
prophesied that the storm of the third would pass and that 
the Fourth of March would dawn as clear and bright as any 
Inaugural Committee could wish. He made himself very 
popular with the anxious officials, who were expending their 
energies in the preparation of a fair weather programme, but 
his popularity was short lived. He afterward learnedly ex- 
plained that some wholly unprecedented thing had hap- 
pened in the wind currents, causing a "flareback" — what- 
ever that may be. It was a memorable "flareback" in any 
event, not to be forgotten by those who were so seriously in- 
convenienced by its results. 

After I had fallen asleep in the early morning hours, think- 
ing — with faith in the prophet — to wake up and find a smil- 
ing world, I was roused by loud, crackling reports which 
seemed to be in the immediate vicinity of my windows. I 

3 2 7 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

got up and looked out. It was light enough for me to see 
that the world was ice-bound and that the storm, instead of 
abating, had increased in violence. The crackling I had 
heard was the noise of twigs and tree limbs breaking with 
the weight of the ice which encased them. It didn't look 
hopeful for the Inaugural Ceremonies, and I had a ludicrous 
vision of a haughty, gold-laced parade sliding, rather than 
marching with measured precision, down Pennsylvania Ave- 
nue, striving to maintain its dignity while it spasmodically 
lost its footing. But mine was rueful mirth. 

In the morning Mr. Taft found President Roosevelt in 
the great hall below, genially alert. 

"Well, Will," he exclaimed, "the storm will soon be over. 
It isn't a regular storm. It's nature's echo of Senator Rain- 
er's denunciations of me. As soon as I am out where I can 
do no further harm to the Constitution it will cease." 

"You're wrong," said Will; "it is my storm. I always 
said it would be a cold day when I got to be President of the 
United States." 

It was really very serious. Railroad and telegraphic 
communications were paralysed all along the Atlantic Coast. 
Wires were down in every direction and traffic of all kinds 
was at a practical standstill. Thousands of people, on their 
way to Washington for the Inauguration, were tied up at 
points outside the city and it was impossible for awhile even 
to. get a telegram in or out. However, Inaugurations do 
not wait for fair weather and the programme had to pro- 
ceed. 

About half past ten I saw the President and the President- 
elect, in a closed carriage, accompanied by Senators Knox 
and Bacon of the Inaugural Committee, and a brilliant 
mounted escort, start on their slippery way toward the Capi- 
tol. The Inauguration ceremonies would not take place 
until twelve o'clock, but there were a number of bills wait- 
ing for the signature of Mr. Roosevelt, and it was necessary 

328 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

for him to go early to the office of the President at the Capitol 
to attend to this and other final business details. 

Before they left the White House it had not yet been 
decided whether or not the Inauguration would take place 
out of doors. Mr. Taft regretted exceedingly the necessity 
for disappointing thousands of people, but at the same time 
he recognised the danger of exposing the crowds to the wet 
and penetrating cold, and he considered, especially, the im- 
possibility of asking Chief Justice Fuller, who was then 
over seventy years old and very frail, to brave a blizzard, 
even for the purpose of administering a Presidential oath. 
However, he decided to wait until the weather had given 
its ultimate indication before changing the programme. He 
said afterward that as he drove to the Capitol there were 
many brave citizens in the streets who gave voice to as hearty 
cheers as could possibly be expected under the circumstances. 

I was being taken care of by Captain Archibald Butt, so I 
had nothing except the weather to worry about. With a 
last hopeless look out of doors I proceeded to don my In- 
auguration finery, feeling duly thankful that it was not too 
springlike in its character. The newspapers say I wore a 
purple satin suit, and a small hat trimmed with gold lace 
and a high white aigrette. This is as good a description as 
any, though it might have been more flattering, considering 
the importance I attached to the subject. I remember the 
hat perfectly. The aigrette was not quite as high as it 
started out to be. It had nearly met an untimely end at a 
reception the day before where it collided with a lighted 
gas-jet. Fortunately it was put out before it was greatly 
damaged, but it had to be trimmed down some, and I im- 
agined that it exuded a faint odour of burning feathers. 

At least two years before the election, when no one could 
anticipate who would be the next President, President Roose- 
velt had announced at a Cabinet meeting that he did not in- 
tend to ride back to the White House with his successor. It 

329 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

was a precedent which he did not like and which he desired 
to break. Mrs. Roosevelt went, with her family and 
friends, directly from the White House to the station to 
wait for her husband to join her after the Inauguration. 
It was about half past eleven when Captain Butt and I 
started in a limousine for the Capitol where we arrived to 
find the "scene set" for the ceremonies in the Senate Cham- 
ber. 

Our children were already in the gallery, waiting eagerly. 
It was an event in their young lives never to be forgotten, 
and I believe that Robert and Helen were in properly re- 
ceptive moods. My son Charlie, however, seems not to 
have been so confident. Charlie is a great lover of adven- 
ture stories and it is a favourite tradition in the family now 
that he carried with him to the Senate Chamber a copy of 
"Treasure Island" with which to while away the time in 
case the Inaugural address should prove too long. Charlie 
was only eleven years old and I consider it a great tribute 
to his father's eloquence that "Treasure Island" was not 
opened that day. 

This Inauguration was said to be, by persons who had 
seen many, one of the most impressive ceremonies that ever 
opened the administration of a President. The oath of 
office is usually administered and the Inaugural address de- 
livered from a large platform erected in front of the Capi- 
tol before which ten thousand people can assemble. But 
the ten thousand people are sure to have been waiting in 
a massed crowd for an hour or more ; they are always tired 
and uncomfortable, so when they finally discover that few 
of them can really hear anything, and that they have seen 
all there is to be seen, they begin to move about and talk, 
the noise and agitation greatly detracting from the impres- 
siveness of the ceremony. Because my husband's Inaugura- 
tion took place in the Senate Chamber it was no less "in 
the sight of all the people." There was room on the floor 

330 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of the Chamber for the whole official personnel of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, resident in Washington. 
There were the retiring President and his Cabinet, the Jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court in their robes of office, the Sen- 
ate and the House of Representatives, besides the foreign 
Ambassadors and the whole Diplomatic Corps in their bril- 
liant uniforms, while the galleries were crowded with offi- 
cial families and a substantial number of unofficial audi- 
tors. 

It was a great presence ; and the taking of the oath and 
the delivering of the Inaugural address before assembled 
national authority and the world's representatives, in a sol- 
emn silence in which every word could be heard, left a deep 
impression. 

As soon as Mr. Taft had finished speaking Mr. Roose- 
velt walked rapidly up, and giving his hand a mighty grasp, 
said something which sounded like "Bully speech, old 
man!" and hurried out of the Chamber accompanied by 
members of his Cabinet who were to see him off at the 
station. My husband told me afterward that what he 
really said was: "God bless you, old man. It is a great 
state document." 

Since the ex-President was not going to ride back to the 
White House with his successor, I decided that I would. 
No President's wife had ever done it before, but as long as 
precedents were being disregarded I thought it might not 
be too great a risk for me to disregard this one. Of course, 
there was objection. Some of the Inaugural Committee 
expressed their disapproval, but I had my way and in spite 
of protests took my place at my husband's side. 

By the time the Inauguration ceremonies were concluded 
the skies had cleared and the sun had come out. Mr. Taft 
left the Senate Chamber with the Committee, followed by 
the assembled dignitaries in the order of precedence. With 
Captain Butt I hurried from the gallery and joined 

33i 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

him in the great hall under the Dome, on his way to the 
platform on the North Side where the Inauguration would 
have taken place but for the weather. In front of the 
temporary structure many people had gathered, and as 
we descended to the front they called for the new President. 
In response he stepped to the platform where the Inaugural 
oath was to have been administered, and bowed repeatedly. 

A platoon of mounted Police and our escort, the Cleve- 
land City Troop, with their elaborate and beautiful uni- 
forms somewhat bedraggled by the morning's sleet and 
mud, met us at the steps leading down from the platform. 
We entered the official coach and four and were slowly 
driven down through the Capitol grounds to Pennsylvania 
Avenue, and thence to the White House. As I have said, 
the clouds had rolled by; the day was cold but bright; the 
expected and expectant crowds were thronging the side- 
walks and filling the stands, and our greeting from them 
was all that my fancy had pictured it. 

For me that drive was the proudest and happiest event 
of Inauguration Day. Perhaps I had a little secret elation 
in thinking that I was doing something which no woman 
had ever done before. I forgot the anxieties of the pre- 
ceding night; the consternation caused by the fearful 
weather; and every trouble seemed swept aside. My re- 
sponsibilities had not yet begun to worry me, and I was able 
to enjoy, almost to the full, the realisation that my hus- 
band was actually President of the United States and that 
it was this fact which the cheering crowds were acclaiming. 

There was nobody at the White House to bid us wel- 
come except the official staff and some of our own guests. 
But it didn't matter. There is never any ceremony about 
moving into the White House. You just drive up and 
walk in, — and there you are. The aides and ushers who 
greeted us at the entrance, treated our occupation of our 
new residence so much as a matter of course that I could not 

332 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

help but feel something as Cinderella must have felt when 
her mice footmen bowed her into her coach and four and 
behaved just as if they had conducted her to a Court Ball 
every night of her life. I stood for a moment over the 
great brass seal, bearing the national coat-of-arms, which is 
sunk in the floor in the middle of the entrance hall. "The 
Seal of the President of the United States," I read around 
the border, and now — that meant my husband! 

But I could not linger long because my duties as a hostess 
began at once. I was not unused to the accepted regula- 
tions of official life, so, in spite of a slight feeling that the 
whole thing was unreal, I was not embarrassed as I walked 
into the great dining-room and took my place by the door 
to receive guests for the first time as mistress of the White 
House. 

I had left to the efficient management of Captain Archi- 
bald Butt as many of the details of the day's programme as 
was possible. Some time before I had carefully gone over 
the' plans with him, we had provided for any reasonable 
emergency, and I knew my instructions would be carried 
put. Captain Butt — later Major Butt — had been military 
aide to President Roosevelt; we had known him well, both 
in the Philippines and in Washington, and we were glad to 
have the opportunity of continuing him in that capacity. 
Whatever Major Butt did was done faultlessly — always. 
During the three years he was with us — day in and day out, 
upon every possible occasion, in the closest intimacy — I 
never ceased to wonder at his genius for work, his compre- 
hensive grasp of important matters and of small details, 
his extraordinary accuracy. His very presence inspired the 
utmost confidence. Archie Butt, as everybody called him, 
became our close and dearly loved friend. Indeed, we felt 
that he belonged to us, and nothing in all our experience 
ever touched us as deeply as the tragedy of his death. Re- 
turning from a short vacation abroad, he went down on the 

333 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Titanic, facing death like a soldier, after the lives of nearly 
all the women and children had been saved. 

We had invited a large number of people to the usual 
Inaugural luncheon. The cook and several of the staff 
of servants were to accompany Mrs. Roosevelt to Oyster 
Bay, but they remained until the afternoon of the Fourth 
when the staff I had engaged were installed. There are a 
few old, official servants who remain in the house from one 
administration to another, keeping in operation an uninter- 
rupted household routine, so there was no reason why the 
Inaugural luncheon should not be carried through with the 
same smoothness and despatch to be expected on ordinary 
occasions. But again we reckoned without the weather. 
The difficulties of traffic, added to the crush on the avenues, 
made it impossible for our guests to arrive on time and they 
continued to straggle in throughout the whole afternoon, 
each one wishing to apologise in person and make special 
explanation. This, of course, made anything like system- 
atic reception out of the question and the result was that the 
luncheon really ran into and became a part of the tea for 
my husband's classmates of Yale, which was scheduled for 
five o'clock. There was some confusion, but much good- 
will and frank enjoyment and the fact that the President 
was not there to receive his classmates caused nothing more 
than a few repetitions of, by that time, familiar comments 
on the elements. 

Mr. Taft was reviewing the Inaugural Parade and the 
last of it did not pass the reviewing stand until after night- 
fall. He came in, however, in time to exchange greetings 
with old-time, enthusiastic friends, the members of the Yale 
class of '78, and to hold them longer than they had intended 
to remain. When the last of them had wished us God- 
speed and said good-bye, we stood, the five of us, — my hus- 
band, my three children and I, — alone in the big state din- 
ing-room, and tried to realise that, for the first time, the 

334 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

White House was really our Home. The great walnut- 
panelled room, with its silvered chandeliers and big moose 
heads, seemed very empty with only the Taft family in it, 
after all the clatter and chatter that had been sounding 
there all day. We gazed at each other for a moment, with 
slightly lost expressions on our faces, and then nature as- 
serted herself in the new President. 

"Let's go up stairs, my dears, and sit downl" said he. 

Poor man, he had not experienced the blissful sensation 
of sitting down since early that morning; so we proceeded 
out to the elevator, which Charlie, true to his boy nature, 
had, of course, already learned to operate. For once, I am 
glad to say, it did not stick between floors. This was a 
habit to which it became addicted in later days, a habit it 
was sure to indulge on occasions when the President proudly 
used it for taking a large party of men upstairs after dinner. 
But this time he was able, without delay, to reach the best 
easy-chair in the sitting-room where he remained until I 
prodded him once more into activity by reminding him that 
he must get into evening clothes else the Inaugural Ball 
could not take place. 

Not having been taxed so greatly, I was not yet ready to 
succumb to fatigue ; besides I was now eager to roam around 
the house, to familiarise myself with the mysteries of my 
new home and to plan the assignment of rooms among vari- 
ous members of the family who were to come to us that very 
night. 

The second story of the White House, where all the fam- 
ily living rooms are, corresponds in spaciousness with the 
floor below, which, with its broad hall, its great East Room, 
its large reception rooms and state dining room, is familiar 
to the public. Upstairs there is a very wide hall running 
the entire length of the building. The rooms occupied by 
the President and his wife are in the south-west corner and 
at that end of the house the hall is partially partitioned and 

335 



v'' 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

screened off and pleasantly furnished with desks, sofas and 
easy-chairs to make a fairly large and very private family 
sitting-room. It was here that I left my tired husband 
while I went on my first tour of exploration. 

At each of the four corners of the house there is a suite; 
all arranged on the same plan, exactly alike, except as 
to decoration. Each consists of an exceedingly large bed- 
room with a spacious bath, and a smaller room adjoining 
which may be used as a bedroom or dressing-room. I 
went first into the large bedroom which my husband and 
I expected to occupy. The windows of this room look out 
on the White House gardens where the large fountain plays, 
and, beyond, on the Washington Monument, the Potomac 
River and the distant Virginia hills. This, I think, is the 
most glorious vista in Washington, which is a city of splen- 
did vistas, and seeing it that March night by the long line 
of lights which stretch across the Potomac bridge and meet 
the lights of Arlington, it was, indeed, inspiring. 

The room was the room where Lincoln slept, indeed, 
where every President since Jackson has slept. A tablet 
under the mantel states this fact. It is the room which 
must necessarily have more intimate and personal associa- 
tion with the men who have occupied the White House 
than any other. Other parts of the house have been the 
scenes of great historic events and of magnificent hospitality, 
but here, one after another, the Presidents of the United 
States have really lived and been at home. 

Its furnishings have, undoubtedly, been changed many 
times and yet I found it to contain many old and interest- 
ing pieces. The most striking object in the room was an 
enormous four-poster bed with a great curved canopy of 
wood, decorated with carved and gilded eagles and uphold- 
ing heavy draperies of blue and white brocade. In this 
bed, we had been told, the Prince of Wales slept when he 
visited this country in i860, but on the first night I dis- 

336 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

covered that, whatever its historic interest, I did not like it 
as a bed to sleep in. I soon replaced it with two smaller 
mahogany beds and I dispensed altogether with the drap- 
eries. There were canopies of the same gilded eagles over 
the windows, and the curtains suspended from them, as 
well as the upholstery of the sofa and chairs, were of the 
same blue and white brocade. Some of the furniture was 
colonial, some Victorian. The colonial furniture in the 
White House is very good and there is quite a lot of it in 
all the bedrooms, but many of the bureaus and wardrobes 
are of the scarcely-to-be-called beautiful style of the Vic- 
torian era. I secured for our room, later on, the beds, a 
dressing-table and some chairs, all colonial. These were 
about the only pieces of furniture I bought for the White 
House. I also substituted heavy chintz for the brocade 
draperies and upholstery, and did away with the canopies 
entirely, as they seemed to me to be too heavy for a sleeping 
room. The small room in the corner of our suite Mr. Taft 
used for a dressing-room. 

The corresponding suite across the hall I gave to Helen, 
my daughter. It had been occupied by both of the Misses 
Roosevelt and before them, I believe, by Mrs. McKinley. 
It had been fitted up in pretty flowered chintz for Miss Ethel 
Roosevelt, after Miss Alice had married, and we left it 
unchanged. 

I strolled down the hall, which contains only a large table 
and a few portraits of Presidents for which there is no 
wall space down stairs, and looked into the Library which 
is exactly in the center of the house on the south side. It 
is oval like the Blue Drawing Room beneath it and it is 
a little dark in the daytime, being shaded by the roof of 
the south portico. This was Mrs. Roosevelt's favourite 
room and it had been fitted most charmingly with many of 
her own belongings, but as they were now gone and my own 
had not yet been moved in, it looked rather bare. The 

337 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

furniture had not been upholstered for many years and 
it was a little shabby. Later on I had it all recovered 
and the walls of the room retinted, and when I had put in 
some of the Oriental tapestries and handsome pieces of 
furniture which I had brought with me from the Far East 
it made a very beautiful and livable room. We used it 
a great deal, especially when there were guests, but for the 
family the sitting-room at the end of the hall was always 
the favourite gathering place. 

Opposite the Library a short corridor extends to the win- 
dow under the roof of the front portico and on each side 
of this doors open into smaller bedrooms; smaller, that is, 
in comparison with the four large ones. Even these would 
be considered large in an ordinary house. One of them I 
assigned to the housekeeper and the other to my two sons. 
The boys' room was rather dark, with its windows directly 
under the roof of the portico; and it was furnished, more- 
over, in dark red, a colour which does not add light to gloom- 
iness, but the boys got it because they were the members of 
the family who would care the least and who would be the 
most away. 

The great staircase descends from the central hall just 
beyond these rooms and facing the staircase is the President's 
Study. The eastern end of the building was all used as 
offices until the new offices were built and the house restored 
in accordance with the original plan. The Presidents with 
large families must, indeed, have been in an uncomfortable 
situation when they had to confine themselves to the rooms 
in the west end, the only rooms then available for living 
purposes. The facts are that such families found the house 
to be less commodious than a "five-room flat," as the wife of 
one President expressed it. I believe the Roosevelts, until 
the house was remodelled, were unable to accommodate one 
guest. 

There is a story that when Prince Henry of Prussia was in 

338 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Washington, President Roosevelt invited him to ride. The 
Prince accepted and just before the appointed hour appeared 
at the White House in his street clothes, accompanied by a 
valet bearing his riding clothes. He had very naturally 
expected to change at the White House, but it happened 
that on that day there was not one room that could even be 
prepared for a Royal dressing-room, so the President was 
compelled to request His Highness to return to the German 
Embassy to change. I believe this incident had the effect 
of hastening the deliberations of the members of the Ap- 
propriations Committee of the House who were then lei- 
surely figuring on the amount necessary for the restora- 
tion. 

Senator McMillan, who was at the head of the Dis- 
trict Committee in the Senate, and who, in his lifetime 
was the leading spirit in the improvement of Washington, 
in the revival of the L' Enfant plan, and in the creation of a 
Commission of Fine Arts to pass upon contemplated struc- 
tures and changes, conferred with Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt 
and with Senator Allison of the Appropriations Committee, 
and by an amendment in the Senate, in the spring of 1902, 
to which Speaker Cannon and the House Appropriations 
Committee assented, the necessary funds for this restoration 
were eventually provided and, most fortunately, the whole 
work was committed to Mr. James McKim, of McKim, 
Meade and White, who, among all the architectural monu- 
ments to his genius which he left, left no greater evidence 
of his mastery of his art than this. He added the grace- 
fully beautiful terraces on either side, equipped with electric 
light standards, and in accord, really, with the original plan 
of the house, and utilised them in a most ingenious way. 
He made of the one on the west a very dignified and con- 
venient approach, through the basement, for large companies 
attending state entertainments. Cloak stands for the ac- 
commodation of thousands were fitted into each side of this 

339 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

passageway and guests now are able to dispose of their wraps 
and proceed to the staircase leading up to the main hall on 
the first floor without the slightest interruption or discom- 
fort. 

The ample and airy space beneath the high portico on the 
south side was used for domestic offices and servants' quar- 
ters, thus greatly increasing the capacity of the house, and 
the construction of the very convenient executive office 
building, reached by a covered, or cloistered passage from 
the White House basement, was carried out on lines so like 
in st)de and appearance to the north portico, so low and 
classically simple, that it detracts nothing from the general 
effect and interferes in no way with the dignified outlines 
of the home of the Nation's Chief Magistrate. 

During the reconstruction the President and Mrs. Roose- 
velt lived either at Oyster Bay or in a house a few steps 
from the White House on Lafayette Square. Mr. McKim 
frequently consulted Mrs. Roosevelt as to interior changes 
and many of her views were adopted, so that the woman's 
side of the new White House was well looked after. 

The work took longer and cost more than was expected 
and this elicited much criticism of the architect as well as of 
the architectural result. His aim had been to make as little 
outward change in the main lines as possible and yet to make 
as great a change as space would permit in interior accom- 
modation. Considering what he had to accomplish his suc- 
cess was remarkable. But the Philistines among the Con- 
gressmen and Senators, who don't like architects anyway, 
found much to complain of. In their daily visits to the 
President they did not, by Mr. McKim's plan, reach him 
through the historic front entrance, supported by the great, 
white pillars, but they were relegated to a business office, 
simply and conveniently equipped, and it offended the sense 
of due proportion of some of them as to who were the real 
power in the government, the legislative representatives 

340 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

calling on business or the social guests of the President. 

But now, after all the ignorance, ill-feeling and prejudice 
displayed in the most unjust attacks upon Mr. McKim, those 
whose judgment is worth anything, and that includes the 
whole body of the people of the United States, rejoice in 
their hearts that the greatest of American architects was 
given a free hand to adapt to modern needs, but also to pre- 
serve in its dignity and beauty, this most appropriate offi- 
cial home of the Head of the Republic. 

These observations may not be in place just here, but they 
occurred to me on the first evening of my occupancy of the 
White House, and I congratulated myself that I was to en- 
joy the results of that successful reconstruction of what had 
been a most uncomfortable mansion. 

The President's Study, as it is now called, is the only 
room of the old Executive offices which has not been changed 
into a sleeping room. It is now the President's more per- 
sonal office where he can receive callers more privately than 
in the new office building. A small bronze tablet under the 
mantel tells, in simple words, the history of the room. 
Here all the Presidents since Johnson held their Cabinet 
meetings, and here the Protocol suspending hostilities with 
Spain was signed in McKinley's administration. A picture 
of that event, painted by Chartran, hangs in the room and 
conveys a remarkably vivid impression of the men who had 
a part in it. The faces of President McKinley, of Justice 
Day, who was then Secretary of State, and of M. Cambon, 
the French Ambassador, are especially striking. This room, 
in which there had been a great many personal mementos 
gathered by Mr. Roosevelt in his interesting career, also 
looked, after their removal, rather bare on that evening of 
my first inspection and, save for the pictures and the tablet, 
had little in its character to make real in one's mind the great 
events that it had witnessed. Yet, as I roamed around that 
evening, the_ whole house was haunted for me by memories 

34i 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of the great men and the charming women whose most thril- 
ling moments, perhaps, had been spent under its roof, and 
I was unable to feel that such a commonplace person as I 
had any real place there. This feeling passed, however, for 
though I was always conscious of the" character which a cen- 
tury of history had impressed upon the White House, it 
came, nevertheless, to feel as much like home as any house 
I have ever occupied. That Study, which seemed at the 
moment so much a part of American history and so little 
even a temporary possession of the Taft family, was later 
hung with amusing cartoons illustrative of events in Mr. 
Taft's career, with photographs of his friends, and with what 
are called at Yale "me?norabilia" of his varied experiences, 
and it became, in time, for us all, peculiarly his room. 

The Blue Bedroom, where we had slept the night before 
as guests of the Roosevelts, belongs to one of the four cor- 
ner suites and I planned to give it to my sister Eleanor, Mrs. 
Louis More, and her husband, while the smaller room in the 
same suite I assigned to Miss Torrey, our Aunt Delia — and 
during our administration apparently the country's "Aunt 
Delia." She had been staying with us at the Boardmans' 
and was probably enjoying the Inauguration of her nephew 
more than anyone in Washington. The last of the suites, 
which was exactly like the blue suite except that it was hung 
in pink brocade, I gave to my husband's sister and brother- 
in-law, Dr. and Mrs. Edwards of San Diego. 

When I had finished my explorations and arrangements 
I glanced at the clock in the Pink Room and discovered that 
I had no time to lose before beginning that important toilet 
which would make me ready for the Inaugural Ball, the 
last, but not the least of the Inaugural functions. 

I hurried to my room and found the hairdresser waiting 
for me. I sat down with a feeling of great comfort and 
submitted myself with hopeful patience to her ministra- 
tions. But she was so overcome by the greatness of the oc- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

casion that, although she was quite accustomed to the idio- 
syncrasies of my hair, she was not able to make it "go right" 
until she had put it up and taken it down twice, and even 
then it was not as perfectly done as I had fondly hoped it 
would be. I believe this hairdressing process made me more 
nervous than anything else in the whole course of the day. 

While it was going on, my new gown lay glittering on 
the bed, where the maid had placed it, and I was very anx- 
ious to get into it. It had given me several days of awful 
worry. It was made in New York and the dressmaker had 
promised that I should have it at least a week before it 
was needed so that any necessary changes could easily be 
made. But day after day went by and no dress, — the third 
of March arrived and then I began, frantically, to telegraph. 
I finally received the reassuring advice that the dress was 
on its way in the hands of a special messenger, but the spe- 
cial messenger was, with many other people, held up for 
hours by the blizzard and did not arrive at the Boardmans' 
until after I had left for the White House, wondering, dis- 
consolately, what on earth I should wear to the Inaugural 
Ball if it happened that the messenger couldn't get there at 
all. The suspense had been fearful and it was a com- 
fortable relief to see the gown all spread out and waiting 
for me. 

It was made of heavy white satin which I had sent to 
Tokyo to have embroidered, and the people who did the 
work surely knew their art. A pattern of golden-rod was 
outlined by a silver thread and cleverly fitted into the long 
lines of the gown, and no other trimming had been used 
except some lace with which the low-cut bodice was finished. 
It fitted me admirably and I hoped that, in spite of all the 
mishaps in my preparations, I looked my best as I descended 
from the White House automobile at the entrance of the 
Pension Office. 

The Pension Office was not built for balls, Inaugural or 

343 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

otherwise, and on the evening of March Fourth, 1909, after 
a day of melting sleet and snow, the entrance was not espe- 
cially inviting. Neither was the dressing-room which had 
been assigned to me. I suppose that for years it had rung 
with the ceaseless click of scores of typewriters and that its 
walls had beheld no more elaborate costume than a business 
blouse and skirt since the occasion of the last Inaugural 
Ball which had marked the beginning of the second Roose- 
velt administration four years before. But as I needed to 
do very little "prinking" it really didn't matter and I quickly 
rejoined the President and proceeded, on his arm, to the 
Presidential Box, this being a small round gallery above 
the main entrance of the great ballroom which is itself, in 
everyday life, the principal workroom of the Pension Office. 
A brilliant, an almost kaleidoscopic scene spread before 
us. The hall is of tremendous proportions, pillared with 
red marble and with walls tinted in the same colour. Every 
inch of floor space seemed to be occupied. The bright 
colours and the gleam of women's gowns met and clashed, 
or harmonised with the brighter colours of diplomatic uni- 
forms. Officers of the Army and Navy, in full regalia, 
mingled with the hundreds of men in the plain black of for- 
mal evening dress. It was a wonderful glittering throng, 
more magnificent than any I have ever seen. It was not 
possible to distinguish individuals except in the space di- 
rectly below the box, but there, as I looked down, I saw 
a great semi-circle of faces — thousands, it seemed to me — 
smilingly upturned toward us. The din of human voices 
was terrific ; even the loudest band procurable had difficulty 
in making itself heard. But the scene was so gay in colour, 
and the faces that gazed up at us were so friendly and happy 
that I felt elated and not at all overwhelmed. 

The first person whom my eyes rested upon in the box 
was Aunt Delia, already installed in a chair near the back 
and drinking in the scene with visible pleasure. Aunt 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Delia, at that time, was eighty-three years old, but not for 
anything would she have missed one feature of this crown- 
ing day of her life. Having no children of her own, she 
had for many years given the greater part of her thought and 
interest to her nephews and nieces, and she followed every 
step in my husband's career with an absorption, not to say 
an excitement, as great as my own. All day long she had 
travelled from ceremony to ceremony, conducted by Lieu- 
tenant Reed, one of the Naval aides. She would arrive, 
leaning on his arm, among the first at each appointed place, 
ready and eager for any new event. She didn't miss even 
the late supper of birds, salads and ices which was served to 
us later that night, before we left the Ball. And now she 
sat in the President's Box, her soft, white hair arranged by 
the best hairdresser, gowned in rich, old-fashioned, black 
velvet, adorned with all the good old lace which she had 
been treasuring for years for an occasion justifying its dis- 
play. 

The Vice-President and Mrs. Sherman arrived shortly 
after we did and shared the box with us. They also had 
with them a large family party and were both so jolly and 
so much in the festive spirit that formality disappeared. 
Many friends and officials of distinction came, in the course 
of the evening, to pay their respects; and members of our 
own family came and went at intervals as they were inclined. 

I may as well say here that my husband and I both came 
from such large families that all Washington, at the time 
of the Inauguration, seemed filled with our near and dear 
relatives. Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft took a comfort- 
able house for ten days, while Mr. and Mrs. Henry Taft 
and Mr. Horace Taft were at the New Willard. 

About eleven o'clock the President and I descended to the 
ballroom floor, followed by Vice-President and Mrs. Sher- 
man and, as is the custom, proceeded slowly down the length 
of the hall and back between the closely packed rows of peo- 

345 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

pie who stood aside to make room for our promenade. This 
ceremonious parade was not as trying for me as it may sound, 
for not only did I have the reassurance of my husband's arm, 
but the crowd was too large to seem very personal. So I 
was quite serene, except for frequent spasms of anxiety lest 
my gorgeous length of train be stepped on. 

Except for this ceremony, and for a short supper which 
was served to us and a few invited guests in a private room, 
the President and I remained in the box until shortly after 
one o'clock when we once more descended and made our 
way to a waiting automobile which very quickly whisked us 
away to much needed rest. 

However, I must still have had energy enough left to 
worry over domestic arrangements since the last thing I re- 
member of that eventful day was a hearty laugh from my 
husband when I exclaimed in sleepy tones: "I wonder 
where we had all better have breakfast in the morning !" 



346 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE WHITE HOUSE 

The members of my family, and especially my children, 
are prone to indulgence in good-natured personalities and 
they like to make the most of my serious attitude toward my 
domestic responsibilities, saying that I make them three 
times as difficult as they need be by a too positive insistence 
on my own methods. 

Perhaps I did make the process of adjusting the White 
House routine to my own conceptions a shade too strenuous, 
but I could not feel that I was mistress of any house if I did 
not take an active interest in all the details of running it. 

The management of the White House is, of course, a 
larger task than many women are ever called upon to per- 
form, and, incidentally, the same "white light that beats 
upon a throne" sheds its sometimes uncomfortable radiance 
upon the usually unprepared heads of America's Chief Ex- 
ecutive and his family. Accustomed as I had been for 
years to publicity, yet it came as a sort of shock to me that 
nearly everything I did, and especially my slightest inno- 
vation, had what the reporters call "news value." 

I have lived too much in other countries ever to under- 
estimate the importance of outward form, yet I think I may 
claim a wholesome regard for and a constant acquiescence in 
the principles of democratic simplicity, thougtThot the kind 
of "democratic simplicity" which is usually written in quota- 
tion marks. 

I made very few changes, really. As a matter of fact no 
President's wife ever needs to unless she so desires, because 
the White House is a governmental institution thoroughly 
equipped and always in good running order. Each new 
mistress of the house has absolute authority, of course, and 
can do exactly as she pleases, just as she would in any other 

347 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

home, but in the beginning I confined my efforts largely to 
minor matters connected with the house service itself. I 
wished to install certain members of the house personnel of 
my own choosing, and this I did. Later I made some 
changes in a few important social usages. 

There are certain duties connected with the White House 
routine which have been performed by the same employes 
throughout one Administration after another and each new 
President's wife finds these men invaluable and wonders, I 
am sure, how the White House could ever be run without 
them. For instance, there are Mr. Warren S. Young, who 
has been for thirty years the Social Executive Officer, and 
Colonel W. H. Crook, who became Chief Custodian under 
Lincoln in 1865 and is holding the same office to-day. The 
duties of each of these men are delicate in the extreme, but 
they know their work down to the minutest detail and it 
would be difficult to measure their value to the woman who, 
in public opinion, is wholly responsible for the White House. 

As to my own innovations, I decided in the first place to 
have, at all hours, footmen in livery at the White House 
door to receive visitors and give instructions to sightseers. 
Before my time there had been only "gentlemen ushers" 
who were in no way distinguishable from any other citizen 
and many a time I have seen strangers wander up to the 
door looking in vain for someone to whom it seemed right 
and proper to address a question or to hand a visiting card. 
The gentlemen ushers I retained, the head usher, Mr. 
Hoover, having become invaluable through similar service 
under every Administration since Cleveland's first, but I put 
six coloured men in blue livery at the door, two at a time, 
relieving each other at intervals, and I think many a timid 
visitor has had reason to be thankful for the change. 
Incidentally they lend a certain air of formal dignity to the 
entrance which, in my opinion, it has always lacked. 

These footmen received everybody who sought to enter 

348 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

the White House. If it happened to be a party of tourists 
they were directed to such parts of the building as are open 
to the public at stated hours; if it were a caller, either social 
or official, he or she was conducted to one of the drawing- 
rooms. But sensible as this innovation seemed to me, it 
met a varied criticism from the adherents, sincere and other- 
wise, of our too widely vaunted "democratic simplicity." 

Another change I made was the substitution of a house- 
keeper for a steward. I wanted a woman who could relieve 
me of the supervision of such details as no man, expert stew- 
ard though he might be, would ever recognise. The White 
House requires such ordinary attention as is given by a good 
housekeeper to any house, except, perhaps, that it has to 
be more vigilantly watched. Dust accumulates in corners; 
mirrors and picture glasses get dim with dampness; curtains 
sag or lose their crispness; floors lose their gloss; rugs turn 
up at corners or fray at the ends ; chair covers get crumpled ; 
cushions get crushed and untidy; things get out of order 
generally; and it is a very large house. Kitchen helpers 
grow careless and neglect their shining copper pots and pans 
and kettles; pantry boys forget and send in plates or glasses 
not polished to perfection; maids forget to be immaculate 
and linen is not properly handled; they are just like em- 
ployes in other homes and they need a woman's guidance 
and control. I engaged my housekeeper before my hus- 
band's Inauguration and she reported for duty on the morn- 
ing of March fifth. 

If I could remember how many turkeys the President 
gives away every Christmas I could tell just how many 
persons there are in the White House service. I know it is 
something like one hundred, but they go to employes of all 
kinds, to important house officials, to minor officials, to serv- 
ants of high and low degree, to gardeners, stable boys, chauf- 
feurs and all. 

The staff of the White House proper is not so numerous, 

349 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

eighteen or twenty perhaps, including cooks, kitchen maids, 
butlers, boys, housemaids and laundresses. There was one 
coloured cook, Alice, who prepared the meals for the serv- 
ants' dining-room and who had been in the White House 
twenty years. 

My head cook, whom I engaged, was Swedish. She was 
a miracle of a cook, but she displayed a romantic tendency 
as well. She must have been about forty, apparently quite 
staid, when she acquired a husband, a policeman on 
duty at the White House, and, in due course, a baby. 
She had been married only a little over a year when her 
husband contracted tuberculosis. We had always been 
very much interested in her, deploring the home-making 
tendency which took her away from us, so when we 
learned of her misfortune Mr. Taft immediately took steps 
to have her husband sent to Ft. Bayard, the Military Tuber- 
culosis Sanatorium in New Mexico. The cook, who earned 
seventy-five dollars a month, put her baby out to nurse and 
returned to the White House, where we got regular reports 
as to the progress of the invalid and the infant, each of 
whom proceeded to do as well as could be expected. 

The other servants in the White House are paid the usual 
wages, from twenty-five to fifty dollars, and are no more and 
no less efficient than other good houseworkers in other homes. 
The entire White House staff is paid by the Government, 
the only private servants in our employ being a Filipino 
valet who had been with Mr. Taft for a number of years, and 
my personal maid. 

In fact, all White House expenses are paid by the Govern- 
ment except actual table supply bills, and Mr. Taft is fond 
of insisting upon his conviction that the country treats its 
President exceedingly well. He was the first President to 
receive a salary of $75,000.00 a year, and when the sub- 
ject of his nomination was uppermost in political discussions 
he did not hesitate to say that he thought this increase from 

350 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

$50,000.00 was an absolute necessity. He did not expect 
to spend $75,000.00 a year, but he knew by careful calcula- 
tion and by a knowledge of President Roosevelt's expendi- 
tures that he would have to spend at least $50,000.00 a 
year and he thought he had a citizen's right, even as Presi- 
dent, to provide a small competence for his family, a thing 
which in his twenty years of poorly paid official service he 
had never had an opportunity to do. He was fifty years 
old with two sons and a daughter in school and college and, 
as Secretary of War at least, he had long been working for a 
wage which was insufficient. But the country really is good 
to its President. It does not make him rich by any means, 
but it enables him to banish the wolf a fair distance from 
his door if he is sensible enough to assist its generosity by 
the exercise of a mild form of prudence. 

My first inspection of the White House on the evening of 
my husband's Inauguration was casual, but the next day I 
assumed the management of the establishment in earnest 
and proceeded upon a thorough investigation which resulted 
in some rather disquieting revelations. 

Mrs. Roosevelt, as the retiring Mistress of the White 
House, naturally would make no changes or purchases which 
might not meet with the approval of her successor, so I found 
the linen supply depleted, the table service inadequate 
through breakages, and other refurnishing necessary. 
There is a government appropriation to meet the expense of 
such replenishments and repairs, and every President's wife 
is supposed to avail herself of any part of it she requires to 
fit the mansion for her own occupancy. 

Perhaps nothing in the house is so expressive of the various 
personalities of its Mistresses as the dinner services which 
each has contributed. For my part I was entirely satisfied 
with the quiet taste displayed by Mrs. Roosevelt and con- 
tented myself with filling up the different broken sets in 
her service to the number necessary for one hundred covers. 

35i 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

I always enjoyed, however, using some of the old historic 
plates and platters at small luncheons and dinners. There 
are enough plates left of the Lincoln set to serve a course to 
a party of thirty. Though I speak of the different designs 
as expressive of personalities they represent, perhaps, various 
periods of popular taste rather than individual preference. 
Samples of all the different services, displayed in cabinets 
in the long eastern corridor, are among the most interesting 
exhibits in the White House. 

From the day my husband became President I never knew 
for certain until I entered the dining-room just how many 
persons there would be at luncheon. He always did credit 
me with a miraculous ability to produce food for any num- 
ber of persons at a moment's notice and when he was Gover- 
nor of the Philippines and Secretary of War I always had 
to keep an emergency supply cupboard, but I did not feel 
that I could carry with me into the White House the happy- 
go-lucky attitude toward the formalities which I had en- 
joyed in those days, so meeting his sudden demands became 
a slightly more serious matter. His haphazard hospitality 
was of more concern to the servants than to me, however, 
and I think it is only his own gift for inspiring respectful 
devotion on the part of his household staff that ever enables 
me to keep a cook more than a week at a time. 

During our first spring in the White House Congress was 
in extra session for the purpose of revising the tariff and Mr. 
Taft was in constant conference with the different Senators 
and Representatives. We had members of Congress at 
luncheon and dinner daily, and at breakfast quite frequently. 

Always, in consultation with my housekeeper and the head 
cook, I made out the daily menus. 

"How many for luncheon, Madame?" was the cook's in- 
variable question. 

"I haven't any idea," was my invariable reply. 

352 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

If no guests had, to my knowledge, been invited I would 
give instructions to have luncheon prepared for the family 
only, emergency provision being a thing understood. My 
day's plans would then be sent over to Mr. Young, the Ex- 
ecutive Social Officer, who had his office in the Executive 
wing of the building, and I would go on about my accus- 
tomed duties and pleasures knowing that no surprise would 
find us quite surprised. 

Along about eleven o'clock the house telephone would 
ring, or a note would be sent over, and announcement would 
be made that Mr. So and So would lunch with the President 
and Mrs. Taft. The table would be laid while the kitchen 
staff stood calmly by awaiting final orders. In another half 
hour might come the announcement of a second guest, or 
group of guests, whereupon the amiable butler would have to 
make a complete change in table arrangements. Only about 
a half hour before the stated luncheon hour did the cook 
ever consider it safe to begin final preparations, but too 
often for the maintenance of entire smoothness in domestic 
routine Mr. Taft would come across from the Executive of- 
fices anywhere from a half hour to an hour late, bringing 
with him an extra guest, or even a number of extra guests 
whose coming had not been announced at all. 

This system, or this lack of system, obtained throughout 
my four years in the White House, but I and my capable 
and willing staff, all of whom were devoted to the President, 
eventually adjusted ourselves to it and I began to take great 
delight in the informal meeting of so many interesting and 
distinguished men at our open luncheon table. 

I tried to insist that the dinner hour should always be 
properly respected, and it usually was. While we gave 
many informal, small dinners, — nearly every night as a mat- 
ter of fact, — there were crowded into my first season from 
March until I became ill in May most of the big official 

353 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

functions which are a part of White House life always, as 
well as a number of entertainments which were a part of 
my own scheme of innovations. 

Our first official entertainment was the Diplomatic Tea 
on the 12th of March, just eight days after the Inauguration, 
and before I had time to settle myself in the midst of my 
own belongings which were to fill the empty spaces left by 
the removal of Mrs. Roosevelt's personal effects. At this 
tea we received the entire Diplomatic Corps, including all 
heads of Missions, and all Secretaries and Attaches, with 
their wives. 

Nothing could be more statelily important. It was the 
first presentation of the Diplomatic Corps to the new Presi- 
dent and though, having been for several years in Washing- 
ton society, we knew many of them quite well, the method of 
procedure was as formal as the State Department could 
make it. Explicit directions as to the manner in which they 
were to present themselves were sent in printed form to every 
diplomatic representative in Washington, but while an al- 
most oppressive dignity marked the proceedings, our wide 
acquaintance made it possible for us to depart somewhat 
from the rigid form decreed and to lend to the occasion an 
air of general friendliness it could not otherwise have had. 

It might be interesting to those not familiar with Wash- 
ington life to know just what the prescribed ceremonies are 
for such an event. I confess that at first they seemed to me 
to be rather formidable, accustomed as I was to the dignities 
of government. 

The guests are not received by the President and his wife 
as they arrive. They are requested to "present themselves 
(in uniform) at the East entrance and to assemble in the 
East Room at a sufficient interval before five o'clock to en- 
able them by that hour to place themselves in the order of 
precedence, each Chief of Mission being immediately fol- 
lowed by his staff and ladies of his Embassy or Legation." 

354 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

They are met in the East Room by the Secretary of State 
and other State Department officials, and by some of the 
aides-de-camp on duty at the White House. 

In the meantime the President and his wife take their posi- 
tions in the Blue Room and exactly at five o'clock the doors 
are thrown open and announcement is made in the East 
Room that they are ready to receive. 

The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps then steps forward, 
past the military aides stationed at the door leading into the 
Blue Room and is presented by the senior military aide to 
the President. He in turn presents each member of his suite, 
all of whom pass promptly on and are presented by another 
aide to the President's wife, the head of the Mission being 
presented to her at the end of these ceremonies. Each Am- 
bassador or Minister, in strict order of precedence, passes by 
with his staff, and they all proceed through the Red Room 
and into the state Dining Room where tea and other refresh- 
ments are served. 

At the conclusion of the presentations the President and 
his wife usually retire and leave their guests to be entertained 
for a few formal moments by whomever has been invited to 
preside at the tea-table, but Mr. Taft and I followed them 
into the dining-room to have tea with them. I knew this 
was a departure from established custom, but it seemed a per- 
fectly natural thing for us to do. I forgot to take into con- 
sideration the attitude of our guests, however. Our unac- 
customed presence rather bewildered the diplomats for a 
moment. There were no rules to guide them in such an 
emergency and they didn't know exactly what was expected 
of them. I had finally to instruct one of the aides to an- 
nounce unofficially to the wives of some of the more im- 
portant of them that nothing at all was expected, and that 
they should retire without making any adieus whenever 
they so desired. I was told afterward that nearly everybody 
was pleased with the innovation, and in the official White 

355 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

House Diary — kept for the purpose of establishing prece- 
dents, I suppose — it was recommended that it be followed 
on all future occasions of a similar nature. 

At our first state dinner, given to the Vice-President and 
Mrs. Sherman, there were thirty-two guests, all Cabinet Of- 
ficers, Senators and Representatives. To prove my claim 
to a natural tendency toward simple and everyday methods 
I need only say that even as the President's wife it seemed 
strange to me to have our guests arrive without immediate 
greetings from their host and hostess. Many a time at 
Malacanan Palace and in other homes I have gone through 
the not unusual experience of a hostess who spends the last 
possible moments in putting "finishing touches" to prepara- 
tions for a dinner, then hurries off to dress in record time 
that she may be able to meet her first arriving guest with an 
air of having been ready and waiting for ever so long. 

But at the White House the guests assemble in whatever 
room may be designated and there, grouped in order of rank, 
await the entrance of the President and his wife. At this 
first formal dinner of ours the guests assembled in the Blue 
Room, the Vice-President and Mrs. Sherman being first, of 
course, and nearest the door leading into the corridor, while 
beyond them were the Cabinet officers, then the Senators 
and Representatives in order of seniority. 

Upon our appearance the band began to play "The Star 
Spangled Banner" — which, let me say parenthetically, is 
almost as difficult a tune to walk by as Mendelssohn's Wed- 
ding March — and played just enough of it to bring us to 
the door of the Blue Room. After we had shaken hands 
with everybody the senior aide approached Mr. Taft with 
Mrs. Sherman on his arm and announced that dinner was 
served, whereupon Mr. Taft offered his arm to Mrs. Sher- 
man and started for the dining-room. 

For my first dinner I chose pink Killarney roses for table 
decorations and it would be difficult to express the pleasure 

356 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

I felt in having just as many of them as I needed by merely 
issuing instructions to have them delivered. The White 
House greenhouses and nurseries were a source of constant 
joy to me. I had lived so long where plants are luxuriant 
and plentiful that a house without them seemed to me to be 
empty of a very special charm and the head horticulturist 
remarked at once that during my regime his gems of palms 
and ferns and pots of brilliant foliage were to be given their 
due importance among White House perquisites. I filled the 
windows of the great East Room with them, banked the fire- 
places with them and used them on every possible occasion. 

The state Dining Room is one of the many splendid re- 
sults of the McKim restoration and, next to the East 
Room, is the handsomest room in the White House. It is 
not so tremendously large, its utmost capacity being less than 
one hundred, but it is magnificently proportioned and beau- 
tifully finished in walnut panelling with a fireplace and 
carved mantel on one side which would do honour to an 
ancient baronial hall. A few fine moose and elk heads are 
its only wall decorations. 

We had table-tops of all sizes and shapes, but the one we 
had to use for very large dinners was in the form of a cres- 
cent which stretched around three sides of the room. For any 
dinner under sixty I was able to use a large oval top which 
could be extended by the carpenters to almost any size. In- 
deed, I have seen it so large that it quite filled the room 
leaving only enough space behind the chairs for the waiters 
to squeeze their way around with considerable discomfort. 
On this table I used the massive silver-gilt ornaments which 
President Monroe imported from France along with his 
interesting collection of French porcelains, clocks and statu- 
ettes which still occupy many cabinets and mantels here and 
there in the house. 

These table ornaments remind one of the Cellini period 
when silversmiths vied with each other in elaborations. 

357 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Based on oblong plate glass mirrors, each about three feet 
in length, they stretch down the middle of the table, end to 
end, a perfect riot of festooned railing and graceful figures 
upholding crystal vases. Then there are large gilded can- 
delabra, centre vases and fruit dishes to match. In their 
way they are exceedingly handsome, and they certainly are 
appropriate to the ceremony with which a state dinner at 
the White House is usually conducted. 

The White House silver is all very fine and there are 
quantities of it. It is all marked, in accordance with the 
simple form introduced at the beginning of our history, "The 
President's House," and some of it is old enough to be 
guarded among our historic treasures. 

When I went to live at the White House I found, much 
to my surprise, that this silver had always been kept in a 
rather haphazard fashion in chests, or boxes, in the store- 
room. I decided to remedy this even though in doing so 
I was compelled to encroach somewhat upon the White 
House custodian's already limited quarters. These quar- 
ters are a good-sized office with the house supply rooms 
opening off it, and a smaller room adjoining. They are on 
the ground floor just across the wide corridor from the 
kitchen. At one end of the smaller room I had built a 
closet with regular vault doors and combination locks. I 
had the space divided into compartments, with a special 
receptacle for each important article, and velvet-lined trays 
in drawers for flat silver, each one of which could be slipped 
out separately. This silver closet became the joy of Arthur 
Brooks' life, he being the War Department Messenger who 
was my right hand man all the time my husband was Secre- 
tary of War and who was appointed White House Custo- 
dian at our request a short time before Mr. Taft was inau- 
gurated. 

I was "at home" informally at the White House about 
three afternoons a week when my friends came to see me and 

358 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

when I received many ladies who wrote and asked for an 
opportunity to call. I always received in the Red Room 
which, with fire and candles lighted, is pleasant enough to 
be almost cosy, large and imposing though it be. I usually 
had twenty or more callers and I found this a delightful 
way of meeting and getting close to people as I could not 
hope to do at the great formal receptions. 

As an example of one of these, I might cite my first after- 
noon reception to the Congressional ladies for which some- 
thing like four hundred invitations were issued. I intended 
to carry this off without assistance, other than that rendered 
by the ladies I had asked to preside over the refreshment 
tables, but in the end I asked Mr. Taft to receive with me, 
a task never very difficult for him. There were no men in- 
vited, so he had the pleasure of shaking hands and exchang- 
ing pleasantries with several hundred women, and he did it 
without a single protest. I made the mistake on this occa- 
sion of receiving in the East Room as the guests arrived, 
thinking that by so doing I could make the party somewhat 
less formal. But I only succeeded in having the stairway 
leading up from the east entrance overcrowded and in mak- 
ing the affair much more formal than it would have been had 
I followed the usual course of permitting the people to as- 
semble in the East Room and to be received in the Blue 
Room on their way through to the Dining Room. It amuses 
me to find that Captain Butt in the Official Diary has care- 
fully recorded all my mistakes as well as my successes for 
the supposed benefit of other Mistresses of the White House. 

I do not wish to convey an impression that life in the 
White House is all a public entertainment, but there are a 
certain number of set functions during every season which 
are as much a part of Washington life as is a Congressional 
session. But even with teas, luncheons, musicals, small din- 
ners, garden parties and dances coming at short intervals 
between the more official entertainments, we still had many 

359 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

evenings wjien there were so few guests as to make us feel 
quite like a family party. Indeed, once in a while we dined 
alone. 

We began immediately, as our first spring advanced, to 
make almost constant use of the porches and terraces which 
are among the most attractive features of the White House. 
The long terrace extending from the East Room I found 
to be a most delightful promenade for guests on warm spring 
evenings, while the corresponding terrace leading out from 
the Dining Room proved most useful for large dinner par- 
ties at times when dining indoors would have been rather un- 
pleasant. 

With Congress in session nearly all summer Mr. Taft gave 
a series of Congressional dinners and the last one he had 
served on this terrace. A curious incident marked the occa- 
sion for special remembrance. It was known that one of the 
Senators invited had never crossed the White House thresh- 
old because of his unfriendly feeling toward the administra- 
tion. He paid no attention whatever to his invitation — a 
formal one, of course, requiring a formal answer — until the 
day before the dinner. He then called the White House 
on the telephone and asked if he would be expected to wear 
a dress suit. Mr. Hoover, who received the inquiry, replied 
that evening dress was customary at White House dinners, 
whereupon the Senator mumbled something at the other end 
of the line. Mr. Hoover asked him whether or not he 
intended to come. He replied that he guessed he would, 
and abruptly rang off. 

The next evening the party waited for him for a full half 
hour before they decided to sit down without him, and even 
then his vacant place was kept open for him. He did not 
come nor did he ever offer any kind of apology or excuse for 
his extraordinary conduct. There are certain manifestations 
of so-called Jeffersonian simplicity in this country of ours 

360 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

that I am sure Jefferson would deplore if he lived in this day 
and generation. 

The north verandah of the White House is pleasant 
enough, but it lacks the charm of seclusion peculiar to the 
south portico which runs around the oval Blue Room and 
looks out upon the broad south garden with its great foun- 
tain, and with Potomac Park, the River and Washington's 
Monument in the background. This soon became our fa- 
vourite retreat and we used to sit there in the ever lengthen- 
ing spring evenings, breathing the perfume of magnolia 
blossoms, watching the play of lights on the tree-dotted 
lawns and on the Monument — which is never so majestic as 
in the night — and realising to the full the pleasant privilege 
of living in this beautiful home of Presidents. 

Mr. Taft had a Victrola in the Blue Room and he never 
failed, when opportunity offered, to lay out a few favourite 
records for his evening's entertainment. Melba and Caruso, 
the Lucia Sextette, some old English melodies, a few lively 
ragtime tunes; in those delightful surroundings we found a 
Victrola concert as pleasant a diversion as one could desire. 
With no applause, no fixed attention, no conversation, no 
effort of any kind required, my husband found on such quiet 
evenings a relaxation he was fully able to appreciate during 
that first trying summer. 

That Manila could lend anything to Washington may be 
an idea that would surprise some persons, but the Luneta 
is an institution whose usefulness to society in the Philippine 
capital is not to be overestimated. At least it was so in my 
day ; and for a long time before Mr. Taft became President 
I had looked with ambitious designs upon the similar possi- 
bilities presented in the drives, the river-cooled air and the 
green swards of Potomac Park. I determined, if possible, to 
convert Potomac Park into a glorified Luneta where all 
Washington could meet, either on foot or in vehicles, at five 

361 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

o'clock on certain evenings, listen to band concerts and enjoy 
such recreation as no other spot in Washington could possibly 
afford. 

The Army officer in charge of Public Buildings and 
Grounds had a bandstand erected in an admirable loca- 
tion at the end of an ellipse, and we decided that the long 
drive theretofore known as "The Speedway" should be re- 
named Potomac Drive. Arrangements were made to have 
band concerts every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon 
from five to seven o'clock. 

Saturday, the 17th of April, the concert began, and at 
five o'clock Mr. Taft and I, in a small landaulette motor-car, 
went down to the driveway and took our places in the 
throng. The Park was full of people. As many as ten 
thousand crowded the lawns and footways, while the drive 
was completely packed with automobiles and vehicles of 
every description. Everybody saw everybody that he or she 
knew and there was the same exchange of friendly greetings 
that had always made the Luneta such a pleasant meeting 
place. I felt quite sure that the venture was going to suc- 
ceed and that Potomac Drive was going to acquire the special 
character I so much wished it to have. 

I also thought we might have a Japanese Cherry Blossom 
season in Potomac Park. Both the soil and climate en- 
couraged such an ambition, so I suggested that all the bloom- 
ing cherry trees obtainable in the nurseries of this country be 
secured and planted. They were able to find about one 
hundred only. Then the Mayor of Tokyo, having learned 
of our attempt to bestow the high flattery of imitation upon 
his country, offered to send us two thousand young trees. 
We accepted them with grateful pleasure, but one consign- 
ment was found to be afflicted with some contagious disease 
and had to be destroyed. I watched those that were planted 
later with great interest and they seem to be doing very well. 
I wonder if any of them will ever attain the magnificent 

362 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS . 

growth of the ancient and dearly loved cherry trees of Japan. 

One of the delights of living in the White House is in 
being able to entertain one's friends from a distance with a 
confidence that they are being given a real pleasure and an 
experience of an unusual kind. More often than not we 
had house guests, old friends from Cincinnati, from New 
Haven, from the Philippines, from here, there and every- 
where; friends with whom we had been closely associated 
through the years and who felt whole-hearted satisfaction in 
my husband's attainment of the Presidency. 

To be stared at is not pleasant because it keeps one self- 
conscious all the time, but one gets more or less used to it. 
And anyhow, I enjoyed a sort of freedom which Mr. Taft 
did not share in any way. While he would probably have 
been recognised instantly in any crowd anywhere, I found 
that in most places I could wander about unobserved like any 
inconspicuous citizen. It was a valued privilege. 

My daughter Helen likes to tell about an experience 
she had one day in Philadelphia. She was a student at 
Bryn Mawr College and she went in to Philadelphia to do 
some shopping. Among other things she had to get herself 
some shoes. At the shoe store she was waited on by a girl 
who was anything but intelligently attentive. She had tried 
Helen's patience considerably by suggesting in a certain 
nagging way that her superior knowledge of what was "being 
worn" deserved respect, and that Helen didn't know what 
she wanted anyhow. 

Helen selected some shoes and decided to have them 
charged to me, and she thought what a satisfaction it was 
going to be to reveal her identity to the patronising and 
offensive young person. The young person produced pad 
and pencil to make out the check. 

"Please have them charged to Mrs. William Howard 
Taft," said Helen with what I am sure was her loftiest air. 

"Address?" 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 



'Washington." 



The salesgirl held her pencil poised over the pad and with 
the familiar expression of satisfaction over a sale accom- 
plished said pleasantly: 

"D. C.V 



364 



CHAPTER XVIII 

SOME WHITE HOUSE FORMALITIES 

My very active participation in my husband's career came to 
an end when he became President. I had always had the 
satisfaction of knowing almost as much as he about the 
politics and the intricacies of any situation in which he found 
himself, and my life was filled with interests of a most un- 
usual kind. But in the White House I found my own duties 
too engrossing to permit me to follow him long or very far 
into the governmental maze which soon enveloped him. 

I was permitted fully to enjoy only about the first two 
and a half months of my sojourn in the White House. In 
May I suffered a serious attack of illness and was practically 
out of society through an entire season, having for a much 
longer time than that to take very excellent care of myself. 
During this period my sisters, Mrs. Louis More, Mrs. Charles 
Anderson, Mrs. Laughlin and Miss Maria Herron, came 
from time to time to visit us and to represent me as hostess 
whenever it was necessary for me to be represented. 

But even in my temporary retirement, as soon as I was 
strong enough to do anything at all, I always took a very 
lively interest in everything that was going on in the house, 
and from my apartments on the second floor directed arrange- 
ments for social activities almost as if I had been well. 

I didn't even have the privilege of presiding at all my first 
year garden parties, though this was a form of hospitality 
in which I was especially interested and which, I believe, I 
was able to make a notable feature of our administration. 
Garden parties are very popular in the Far East and I think, 
perhaps, I acquired my very strong liking for them out there, 
together with a few sumptuous notions as to what a garden 
party should be like. 

The Emperor and Empress of Japan give two each year; 

3<35 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

one in the spring under the cherry blossoms to celebrate the 
Cherry Blossom season, and one in the autumn in the midst 
of chrysanthemums and brilliant autumn foliage. These 
are the events of the year in Tokyo, marking the opening and 
the close of the social season, and society sometimes prepares 
for them weeks ahead, never knowing when the Imperial invi- 
tations will be issued. The time depends entirely on the 
blossoming of the cherry trees or the chrysanthemums in the 
Imperial Gardens. When the blooms are at their best the 
invitations are sent out, sometimes not more than two days 
in advance, and society, in its loveliest garments, drops every- 
thing else and goes. It would be very nice, of course, to 
have always some such special reason for giving a garden 
party, but it is only in the "Flowery Kingdom" that the 
seasons are marked by flowers. 

Nothing could be finer than the south garden of the White 
House. With its wide lawns, its great fountain, its shading 
trees, and the two long terraces looking down upon it all, it 
is ideally fitted for entertaining out of doors. And I must 
mention one other thing about it which appealed to me 
especially, and that is the wholesomeness of its clean Amer- 
ican earth. This is lacking in the tropics. There one may 
not sit or lie on the ground, breathing health as we do here; 
the tropic soil is not wholesome. Not that one sits or lies 
on the ground at garden parties, but the very feel of the 
earth underfoot is delightfully different. 

I determined to give my first garden party at the White 
House as soon as spring was sufficiently far advanced to 
make it possible. I issued invitations, 750 of them, for Fri- 
day, the 7th of May, planning at the same time three others 
to complete the season, one each Friday during the month. 

In order to put possible bad weather off its guard, I made 
the invitations simply for an "At Home from 5 to 7 o'clock," 
because all my life the elements have been unfriendly to me. 
Whenever I plan an outdoor fete I begin to consult the 

366 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

weather man with the hopeful faith of a Catherine de 
Medici appealing to her astrologer, but for all my humble 
spirit I very frequently get a downpour, or else a long-drawn- 
out and nerve-trying threat. Quite often the lowering 
clouds have passed and my prayers for sunshine have been 
rewarded, but quite often, too, I have had to move indoors 
with an outdoor throng for whom no indoor diversions had 
been arranged. 

By way of preparation for my first garden party I had a 
large refreshment tent put up in the northwest corner of the 
garden where it would be handy to the kitchen and serving 
rooms, while under the trees here and there I had tables 
spread at which a corps of waiters were to serve tea during 
the reception. The Marine Band I stationed behind the iron 
railing just under the Green Room. For any kind of out- 
door entertainment at the White House the band had always 
been placed in the middle of the lawn between the south 
portico and the fountain, but I thought, and correctly, that 
the house wall would serve as a sounding board and make the 
music audible throughout the grounds. I arranged to receive 
under one of the large trees in a beautiful vista looking 
south. 

No sooner were my plans completed, however, than the 
weather man predicted rain. It was coming, sure. Of 
course, I knew it would, but I had had too much experience 
to think of coming in out of the rain before it began to come 
down. I always sustain my hopeful attitude until the 
deluge descends. 

About half past three it began to rain in torrents and I 
saw all of my festive-looking preparations reduced to sopping 
wrecks before there was even time to rush them indoors. By 
five o'clock, when it was time for the people to begin to 
arrive, it had stopped raining, but the lawns were soaked and 
the trees were dripping dismally, so I directed the band to 
move into the upper corridor, as usual for afternoon affairs, 

3 6 7 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

had the refreshment tables spread in the state Dining Room 
and took my by that time accustomed position to receive the 
long line of guests in the East Room. 

A week later I had better luck. I sent out the same kind 
of invitations, made the same kind of preparations, slightly 
elaborated, and was rewarded with a perfect mid-May day. 

The guests arrived at the East Entrance, came down the 
Long Corridor, out through one of the special guest dressing- 
rooms, and down the long slope of the lawn to the tree where 
Mr. Taft and I stood to receive them, with Captain Arch- 
ibald Butt to make the presentations. At the next garden 
party I requested the gentlemen to come in white clothes, in 
thin summer suits, or in anything they chose to wear, 
instead of in frock coats. Some young people played 
tennis on the courts throughout the reception; it was warm 
enough for bright coloured parasols and white gowns; the 
fountain made rainbows and diamond showers in the sun, and 
altogether it was a most pleasing picture of informal out- 
door enjoyment. Each year after that the four May 
garden parties were among the most popular entertainments 
of our social season. 

The question of a "Summer Capital," as the President's 
summer home is called, was quite a serious one for us to settle. 
We had been going to Murray Bay for so many years that we 
had few affiliations with any other place, and we were most 
uncertain as to what we might be able to do. 

We finally selected a number of likely places and made 
our choice by the process of elimination. One location was 
too hot, another had a reputation for mosquitoes, another was 
too far away, another hadn't first-class railway, postal and 
telegraph facilities, and another, worst drawback of all, had 
no good golf links. It wouldn't have been a livable place 
for Mr. Taft without golf links because golf was his principal 
form -of exercise and recreation. Also the whole family 
agreed that we must be near the sea, so our search finally 

368 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

narrowed to the Massachusetts coast. I decided on the 
North Shore, as the coast from Beverly to Gloucester is 
called, because it had every qualification for which we were 
seeking, including excellent golf at the Myopia and Essex 
County clubs. Then, too, it had a further attraction in that 
the summer homes of a number of our friends were located 
there, or in the near vicinity. 

I went up in the spring to Beverly Farms, with my friend 
Miss Boardman, and inspected houses for three days, finally 
selecting one, principally for its location. It stood near the 
sea and its velvety green lawns sloped all the way down to 
the sea wall. From its verandah one could see out across 
Salem Harbour to Marblehead. 

The house itself was a modern frame cottage, as simple as 
anything well could be, with a fine verandah and a dormer 
windowed third story. It was large enough for the family 
and for such visitors as we inevitably would have to accom- 
modate, but besides the Taft family, which was numerous 
enough at that time, there were Captain Butt and a large 
corps of secretaries and stenographers, to say nothing of the 
Commander of the Sylph, the President's smaller yacht, who 
all had to be within call when they were wanted. Then, 
too, there was the necessity for Executive Offices and I didn't 
think it would seem like having a vacation at all if the Exec- 
utive Offices could not be somewhere out of sight so that they 
might sometimes be out of mind. The President didn't ex- 
pect to be able to spend much of his time away from Wash- 
ington the first summer but when he did come to Beverly I 
wanted him to feel that he was at least partially detaching 
himself from business. So another house was found in the 
town, yet on the seashore, and was fitted up for Executive 
Offices and as a home for the office staff and Captain Butt. 
The secret service men, like the poor, we had with us always, 
but it never seemed to me that they "lived" anywhere. 
They were merely around all the time. They were never 

369 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

uniformed, of course, and looked like casual visitors. They 
used to startle callers by emerging suddenly from behind 
bushes or other secluded spots — not I am sure because of a 
weakness for detective methods, but because they concealed 
comfortable chairs in these places — and asking them what 
they wanted. It was sometimes most amusing and some- 
times rather trying, but as long as there are cranks and un- 
balanced persons such precautions will be necessary for the 
protection of Presidents, and anyhow, one gets so used to the 
men as almost to forget what they are there for. 

We did not go to Beverly the first summer until the third 
of July. Captain Butt preceded us to make final arrange- 
ments for our reception on the Fourth, and the servants and 
motor cars had been sent on several days before. I was 
still in such ill-health that it was necessary to avoid the 
excitement of the inevitable crowds, so when our private 
car "Mayflower" arrived in Beverly the welcome ceremonies 
were purposely subdued. A great crowd was present at the 
station, but at Mr. Taft's request no speeches were made. 
Shortly after we arrived at the house the Mayor of Beverly, 
with a committee of citizens, called, an address of welcome 
was delivered, to which Mr. Taf t responded and cordial re- 
lations were established. But nothing more occurred even 
though it was the Fourth of July. 

Mr. Taft spent just one day with us, then hurried away to 
keep a bewildering number of engagements here and there 
before he returned to Washington, where Congress was still 
in stormy session over the tariff bill. 

He came back in August to spend a month with us, and 
then the little sea-side colony, which we had found as quiet 
as the woods, except for the lavish hospitality of its people, 
became indeed the nation's summer capital. Nobody found 
it inconvenient to come to Beverly to see the President and 
he was just about as busy there as he ever was in Washington. 
He had a game of golf every day on the Myopia links and 

370 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

grew jubilant over his scores, but for the most part he seemed 
always to be attending to the business of being President. 
There was an Executive Office, as I have said, but nearly 
always one could find four or five men sitting on the verandah 
waiting to see him. Fortunately he had a large room to 
himself with a private entrance, but we grew so accus- 
tomed to running into strangers that we came almost not to 
notice them and to enjoy our supposed privacy as if they 
were not there. 

The most interesting callers we had that summer were 
their Imperial Highnesses, Prince and Princess Kuni of 
Japan, who were making a tour of the world. They were 
accompanied by Madame Nagasaki, the wife of the Court 
Chamberlain who officiated at my husband's first audience 
with the Emperor, by Colonel Kukurita, a military aide and 
Mr. Matsui, Charge d' Affaires of the Japanese Embassy in 
Washington. They were escorted by representatives of both 
the State and War Departments. I had never met these 
Imperial personages, but when Mr. Taft and Miss Alice 
Roosevelt were in Japan they had been presented to their 
Highnesses, so Mr. Taft invited Miss Roosevelt, then Mrs. 
Longworth, and her husband to meet them. 

The day following the visit of the Prince and Princess 
Mr. Taft left for a long trip through the West and I didn't 
see him again until the late autumn when we all returned to 
Washington. 

The social season in Washington always opens with the 
Cabinet Dinner in December. This is one of the regular 
State Dinners which are carefully scheduled and jealously 
regarded as such. The others were formerly the Diplomatic 
Dinner and the Supreme Court Dinner, but we inaugurated 
a Speaker's Dinner, so there are now four. These are state 
functions pure and simple, but by the exercise of a little art 
one can manage to make them most enjoyable affairs. To. 
the Cabinet Dinner only the Vice-President and his wife, the 

37i 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

members of the Cabinet and their wives and a few especially 
distinguished outsiders are invited. 

The hostess doesn't have to worry about seating the Cab- 
inet officers because it is all a matter of precedence and is 
attended to by the Social Executive Secretary. The rank 
of a Cabinet officer is determined by the date on which his 
office was created and not, as one might think, by the relative 
importance of his official status. 

The only time when a friendly democracy presents itself 
to the President en masse is on New Year's Day. At the 
New Year's Reception he receives just as many persons as he 
can shake hands with between the hours of eleven in the 
morning and half past two or three in the afternoon. His 
wife, the wife of the Vice-President and the ladies of the 
Cabinet receive with him as long as it is physically possible 
for them to do so. While writing in the third person I am 
thinking in the first, of course. These were our customs. 

Yet if anybody unfamiliar with Washington life imagines 
that a New Year's Reception means throwing open the 
White House doors and admitting the public without con- 
sideration of rank or the rules of precedence he is mistaken. 
The Reception, up to a stated hour, is as carefully regulated 
as any other function, and I consider the list of the especially 
favoured most interesting as a revelation of the complexity 
of Washington's social life. 

Announcement is made that the President will receive at 
1 1 :oo a.m. — the Vice-President, the members of the Cabinet 
and the Diplomatic Corps; at 11:20 a.m. — the Supreme 
Court, members of the Judiciary of the District of Columbia, 
former Cabinet officers and former diplomatic representa- 
tives of the United States; at 1 1 130 — Senators, Representa- 
tives and Delegates in Congress ; at 1 1 \\$ — Officers of the 
Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Militia of the 
District of Columbia; at 12:15 P - M * — Regents and Secre- 
tary of the Smithsonian Institution, all the various Com- 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

missions, Assistant Secretaries of Departments, the Solicitor 
General, Assistant Attorneys-General, Assistant Postmasters- 
General, the Treasurer of the United States, the Librarian 
of Congress, the Public Printer, heads of all Bureaus and 
the President of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and 
Dumb; at 12:30 p.m. — The Secretary of the Cincinnati, 
the Aztec Club of 1847, the Associated Veterans of the War 
of 1846-47, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the 
United States, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Medal 
of Honor Legion, the Union Veteran Legion, the Union 
Veterans' Union, the Society of the Army of Santiago, the 
Spanish Minute Men, the Sons of the American Revolution 
and the members of the Oldest Inhabitants' Association of 
the District of Columbia; at 1:00 p.m. — Citizens. 

As all the men present themselves in the dress uniform of 
their various services or orders, or wearing the decorations 
they have won in epoch-marking events, one gets a most 
illuminating view of organised American patriotism. 

There is an old system obtaining at the White House 
known as inviting guests "behind the line." This means 
that a chosen few are permitted as special guests to be 
present in the Blue Room while a reception is in progress. 
It is a system which has at times been so carelessly regulated 
as to engender jealousies and dissatisfactions, and we de- 
termined if possible to avoid on all occasions any appearance 
of favouritism. So at our first New Year's Reception we de- 
cided to limit special privileges to the Diplomatic Corps, the 
wives of Assistant Secretaries and our own house guests. 
This made the distinction a mere matter of official rank and 
did away with all possibility of unpleasant comment from 
distinguished members of civilian society. 

For instance, there has always been a delicate question in 
connection with the Judicial Reception as to whether or not 
on this occasion the Justices of the Supreme Court take 
precedence over the members of the Diplomatic Corps. 

373 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The Justices have always contended that at their own Re- 
ception they do, but the unwritten code has it that no per- 
son under the rank of President or Vice-President ever takes 
precedence over an Ambassador who is the direct represent- 
ative of his sovereign. 

We settled this question by inviting the heads of all Mis- 
sions to the Blue Room where they were greeted by the 
President before he took his place in the receiving line, and 
where they were permitted to remain as long as they desired, 
being, as it were, a part of the receiving party. This was 
a solution which satisfied everybody and pleased the Diplo- 
mats particularly. 

A great many special arrangements are necessary for a 
New Year's Reception at the White House. For every 
state occasion or any large function there are always many 
extra footmen, policemen, guards, waiters, cloak room at- 
tendants and ushers on hand, but on New Year's Day the 
array of them would be most imposing if they were not 
almost lost in the midst of a thronging populace. All the 
people who come to these receptions do not pass the receiving 
line. Many of them find points of vantage in the vicinity 
merely to look on, and yet the President shakes hands with 
from six to eight thousand of them before the gates are 
closed. I have seen the line of waiting people stretching 
out through the spacious grounds, down the street, around a 
corner and out of sight at a time when I had already given 
up in utter exhaustion. And the way the carriages come 
and go in perfect order, without a hitch, each coachman with 
his card of a particular colour telling him just where to make 
his exit, was a thing I never could understand. 

The corps of aides arrange all these details and each de- 
partment, including the police and the secret service, has its 
printed and explicit orders for the day a long time ahead. 
Some of the police orders are interesting. For instance: 
"No person under the influence of liquor, disorderly in his 

374 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

behaviour or bearing any advertisement will be allowed 
in line. Conspicuously dirty persons will not be admitted." 
Also : "Except in the most aggravated case a coachman will 
not be taken from his box and put under arrest. It will 
be sufficient to take his name and address and arrest him on 
the following morning." 

After a New Year's Reception the White House is a 
sorry sight, even though by using extra strips of carpet to 
protect the polished floors and by removing fine rugs and 
breakable bric-a-brac every possible precaution is taken to 
make the damage as slight as possible. But it doesn't take 
long to restore the house to its normal condition. The way 
the crowd of workmen used to go about putting the place in 
order after an invasion of this kind always reminded me 
of the well-drilled stage hands at a hippodrome who manage 
to set different scenes and keep things spic-and-span without 
even interfering with a continuous performance. 

Very shortly after the New Year's Reception, three days 
later in fact, we gave the next big event of the season, the 
Diplomatic Reception. It is understood, of course, that 
one of the chief occupations of the President of the United 
States is shaking hands. I am moved to this observation 
by memories of uncounted hours by my husband's side in a 
receiving line at the White House when thousands of guests 
passed by, each separately introduced to both the President 
and to me and each extending an untired hand to give and to 
receive the hearty grasp which all good Americans so highly 
regard. And there is no conceivable form of work or exer- 
cise more fatiguing. If it were not for the mental stimulus 
afforded by the friendliness of a gay throng, by music and 
lights and a general festive atmosphere, it could hardly be 
borne. 

For Mr. Taft it was never so hard because in his long 
public career, and especially through a political campaign, 
he had had considerable training for it. But for me it was 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

somewhat more difficult. My friends used to wonder how 
I could stand it, but when I was well I never found it so 
much of a strain that I could not very quickly recover from 
it. When I was not feeling particularly strong I would 
resort to all manner of innocent pretexts to give myself 
short intervals of rest. I would turn around and engage in 
important conversation with someone behind me; I would 
consume minutes in taking a drink of water; or I would 
get into serious difficulty with my flowers or something. 
Then, too, I sometimes would sit frankly down and let the 
crowds pass by. 

To me the long standing was the real strain and I soon 
came to a point where I was willing to sacrifice appearance 
to approximate comfort by wearing wide flat slippers with 
low heels. 

The Diplomatic Reception is undoubtedly the most bril- 
liant of the set state functions which are given at the White 
House each year, but to me it was never as interesting as the 
Diplomatic Dinner which follows it. There are thirty-nine 
foreign Embassies and Legations in Washington. Each 
Ambassador and Minister has his own distinctive and some- 
times very elaborate regalia; each attache, military and 
naval, wears the uniform of his service, in many cases very 
picturesque and often positively flamboyant; the foreign 
women, gowned exquisitely, are many of them crowned with 
tiaras and laden with jewels, and when they are all gathered 
around one great, glittering and gorgeously decorated table 
they present such a picture of varied colour and magnificence 
as is not to be seen on any other occasion in Washington. 

I used always to wonder how they managed to get along 
with each other. There is an impression quite general 
among us that we are the only nation on earth that sends 
abroad diplomatic representatives without any knowledge of 
the French language. This is not quite true. There are a 
good many diplomats in Washington who do not speak 

376 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

French, and there are more diplomats' wives. But as both 
men and women are seated at the Diplomatic Dinner in 
strict order of rank, there is no chance to take into considera- 
tion the seemingly important question as to whether or not 
dinner partners will be able to communicate with each other 
very freely. They do speak English, of course, but many of 
them imperfectly, and, taking them all, with exactly thirty- 
nine different accents. Imagine the wife of the Chinese 
Minister sitting between the Minister of Salvador and the 
Minister of Cuba, or the wife of the Japanese Ambassador 
having on one hand the German Ambassador and on the 
other the Minister of Costa Rica ! 

It all depends on how long they have been in Washing- 
ton. When I first went to the White House the Italian 
Ambassador was the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, with 
the Austrian Ambassador next, while among the Ministers 
those from Siam and from Costa Rica, I think, had prece- 
dence over all others. If the Minister of Haiti remained 
in Washington long enough he could outrank the Minister 
of Spain. The Minister of Haiti is the only negro diplomat 
in the Corps and his place at table in my time was with a 
group of envoys of almost equal rank who sat together near 
one outer end of the great crescent. 

It was not possible to invite many outsiders to the Diplo- 
matic Dinner because there were enough of the Diplomats 
themselves with their wives and attaches to tax the capacity 
of the State Dining Room. But Mr. Taft never did take 
space limits into consideration. For both Receptions and 
Dinners I used always to go over the invitation lists and do 
my best to keep them within bounds. Regretfully enough 
would I cut them wherever I found it possible, but my hus- 
band, according to his fixed habit, invariably added more 
names than I took off, so, thanks to him, we have to our 
credit the largest dinner parties ever given in the new Execu- 
tive Mansion. Mr. McKim in his report on the restoration 

377 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

of the White House says the Dining Room will hold one 
hundred, but strained to its utmost capacity ninety-two was 
as many as I could ever crowd into it, and then everybody 
was aghast at the number. We might have put a star in 
the hollow of the crescent so as to accommodate a few more, 
but I never thought of it until this moment. I'm glad it 
never occurred to Mr. Taft. With his expansive disposition 
he certainly would have had it tried. 

The Reception crowds I did manage to cut down. It 
simply had to be done. When more than two thousand 
people get into the White House it is a literal "crush" and 
nobody has a good time. We not only introduced dancing 
in the East Room at Receptions, a feature which delighted 
everybody and especially the young people, but we always 
served refreshments to every guest within our gates. 

This was, I suppose, the most generally approved depar- 
ture from established custom that was made during my ad- 
ministration. It was made possible by cutting down the 
list of guests one half and inviting one half to one reception 
and the other half to the next. As a matter of fact, prepar- 
ing a buffet supper for a company of 2,000 people is not 
much more of a strain on ordinary household resources than 
serving a nine or ten course formal dinner to eighty or ninety 
guests. Neither undertaking is particularly simple, but the 
White House kitchen and pantries are large and adequate, 
we had an efficient staff and we never had any mishaps or 
embarrassments that I remember. 

Several days before a large reception my cooks would 
begin to turn out piles upon piles of small pastries and to do 
all the things that could be done in advance. Then on the 
day of the reception, with plenty of extra assistants, it was 
found easily possible to prepare all the salads and sand- 
wiches, the ices and sweets, the lemonades and the punches 
that were necessary. Nor did we find that it interfered in 
the least with the usual household routine. We took our 

378 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

meals in the small family dining room adjoining the State 
Dining Room, and even gave small and successful dinner 
parties while the State Dining Room was in the hands of the 
carpenters and decorators. 

Referring to the serving of refreshments reminds me of an 
incident which gave us some uneasiness shortly after Mr. 
Taft's election. It was during that phase of his career 
which all Presidents pass through, when his most casual 
remark was likely to be construed into an "utterance," and 
his most ordinary act was likely to become a widely heralded 
"example." It was while he was still being held up as a 
model of all the excellencies — framed in a question mark: 
"What will he do*?" In other words it was before his In- 
auguration. 

He was at a dinner at Hot Springs, Virginia. As the 
wine was being served one of the diners turned down his 
glass with the remark that he had not taken a drink for 
eighteen years. Mr. Taft, in the most usual and common- 
place manner, followed suit, saying that he had been a total 
abstainer for nearly two years and expected to continue so. 
The incident was made the basis of a sensational newspaper 
story which created the impression that he had acted with 
great dramatic effect and that his remark amounted to a 
declaration of principle which he would turn into a Presi- 
dential policy. 

Immediately he was overwhelmed with memorials, with 
resolutions of commendation framed by some of the most 
worthy and admirable Christian and temperance organisa- 
tions in the country. It was taken for granted that he 
would banish alcohol in every form from the White House. 
In simple honesty he had to tell all the reverend gentlemen 
that he had made no pronouncement with regard to limiting 
White House hospitality, that he had no desire to interfere 
with any normal man's personal habits and that as President 
he had no intention of trying to do so. 

379 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

The truth is that he is a total abstainer because never in 
his life has he indulged in stimulants to any extent; they 
have no attraction for him whatever, and he found in those 
days that with so much dining out, it was wiser to decline all 
wines and liquors. Being naturally abstemious he has al- 
ways rather objected to being given personal credit for such 
virtue. 

It was about this time that I, too, got into trouble of a 
peculiar sort. In the mass of correspondence which began 
to roll in upon me as soon as my husband was elected, there 
were requests of every possible kind from all parts of the 
world. Among these came a letter from a society of 
women engaged in political and social reform work in one 
of the newer Balkan States, asking me to lend my aid in 
forming a similar society in the United States. 

I declined with as much grace and courtesy as I could 
command and thought nothing more about it. Imagine 
my surprise to find almost immediately that my reply had 
been construed by its recipients into a sort of expression of 
personal interest in and sympathy for the people of their 
country in general. I was proclaimed the warm friend of 
the young State and an enemy to all her enemies. The inci- 
dent became the subject of an exchange of diplomatic notes 
in Washington, and it took a bit of the suavity of the State 
Department to extricate me from the tangle in which my 
alleged active participation in the trouble in the Balkans 
had placed me. It taught me a lesson. 

Throughout my four years in the White House my mail 
contained surprises every day, but I soon learned not to be 
surprised at petitions for assistance in various forms. It is 
extraordinary how many of these a President's wife receives. 
The greater number came to me from small charitable organ- 
isations throughout the country. It seemed to me that no- 
body ever thought of organising a bazaar or a church fair 
without asking me for some sort of contribution, and before 

*8o 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

holidays, especially Easter and Christmas, I was simply 
besieged. They did not want money ever; they wanted 
something that could be sold as a souvenir of myself. I 
never, to my knowledge, refused a request of this kind. Mrs. 
Roosevelt had used a photograph of the White House, and I 
decided, finally, to do the same. I chose a view of the 
South Portico eight by ten inches in size which I thought 
very nice, and asked to have it reserved for me. With my 
signature across one corner it became a most satisfactory 
souvenir. I hesitate to hazard a guess as to the number I 
signed and sent away, but, ordered by the hundreds, they 
didn't cost very much, so contributing them to good causes 
became a pleasure unmarred by a sense of unjustifiable ex- 
travagance. Handkerchiefs, too, were in great demand 
and I always kept a supply of them on hand. 

I see I have wandered away from the receptions and din- 
ners and my attempt to tell in some sort of consecutive 
fashion what a social season at the White House consists of, 
but remembering the crowds I lived in for four years it seems 
to me that everybody must know just as much about these 
things as I do. I have to keep reminding myself that I am 
not writing altogether for people who live in Washington, 
but for the people in the far places who have never been to 
Washington, but who have just as much of a personal prop- 
erty right in the nation's capital and just as much interest in 
the proper conduct of its affairs whether they be legislative, 
administrative, diplomatic, or merely social, as any President 
ever had. 



381 



CHAPTER XIX 

CONCLUSION 

Our second summer at Beverly began with a call from Mr. 
Roosevelt. When the ex-President returned to the United 
States, on the 18th of June, 1910, after an absence of a year 
and a half, Mr. Taft sent two members of his Cabinet, the 
Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of Agriculture, and 
his aide, Captain Butt, to New York to meet him and to ex- 
tend to him a personal as well as an official welcome home. 
According to Captain Butt's Official Diary: 

"Immediately upon the arrival of the S.S. Kaiserin 
Angus te Victoria at Quarantine the Presidential party scaled 
the sides of the steamer by means of a rope ladder and pro- 
ceeded to the staterooms of Mr. Roosevelt where each mem- 
ber of the party greeted the ex-President. Then Captain 
Butt, who was in full dress uniform, saluted Mr. Roosevelt 
and presented to him the letter of welcome entrusted to his 
care by the President. Mr. Roosevelt read it and expressed 
his great appreciation of the honour of the receipt of the 
letter, as also for the ordering of the U. S. S. South Carolina 
and other vessels to accompany him from Quarantine to 
New York. Captain Butt also presented to Mr. Roosevelt 
a letter (from Mrs. Taft) supplementing the President's 
invitation to Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt to pay them a visit at 
the White House now or at any time when it might be con- 
venient for them to do so. . . . Mr. Roosevelt took occasion 
to send his sincere appreciation and profound thanks to the 
President by Captain Butt both for the official and personal 
welcome extended to him." 

I removed the Presidential household to Beverly the week 
Mr. Roosevelt arrived and did not see him until after Mr. 
Taft joined me about ten days later. Again to quote from 
Captain Butt's carefully kept record: 

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RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"June 30 — At 3 130 o'clock ex-President Theodore Roose- 
velt, accompanied by Senator Lodge, called to pay his re- 
spects to the President. He was met at the entrance by 
Captain Butt, who announced his arrival. The President 
immediately came out and greeted his visitor most affection- 
ately, addressing him as Theodore. 

"Colonel Roosevelt took both hands of the President, and 
said, 

" 'Mr. President, it is fine to see you looking so well.' 

" 'But why "Mr. President'"?' laughed the President. 

" 'Because,' replied Colonel Roosevelt, 'it used to be "Mr. 
President" and "Will," now it must be "Mr. President" 
and "Theodore." ' 

"The President conducted his distinguished predecessor to 
the side porch where they started into a series of delightful 
reminiscences of the past Administration. . . . Colonel 
Roosevelt remained two hours, during which he gave the 
President an interesting account of his trip." 

I was present at this interview and remember it as being 
remarkably pleasant and entertaining. Everybody will 
recall that the question of Mr. Roosevelt's attitude toward 
my husband was even then a debatable one, but Mr. Taft 
had resolutely refused to believe that it could ever be any- 
thing but friendly. I did not share his complete faith, but I 
was glad on this occasion to find the old spirit of sympathetic 
comradeship still paramount and myself evidently proved 
to be unwarrantably suspicious. 

Mr. Roosevelt had just been in England where he acted 
as the representative of the President of the United States 
at the funeral of King Edward, and that solemnly magnifi- 
cent event seemed to have overshadowed in his mind every 
other experience he had had during his long absence. He 
described the stately ceremonies and the medievally pic- 
turesque procession in vivid detail and did not fail to empha- 
sise their grave and reverential aspects, but he dwelt partic- 

383 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

ularly, and to our great amusement, upon the humorous 
side of the situation in which he had found himself. 

It will be remembered that among Kings and Emperors 
and Czars, and even lesser potentates, the rank of Presidents 
was a difficult thing to determine. Should minor royalties 
take precedence over the representatives of the French Re- 
public and the United States of America, to say nothing of 
Mexico, Brazil, Switzerland, and all the other great and 
small democracies? 

Mr. Roosevelt had great difficulty in finding his place. 
Then, too, he was constantly running into kings and other 
royalties to whom he, naturally, owed ceremonious respect. 
They were so numerous in London at the time that familiar- 
ity with them bred carelessness in one whose tongue had not 
been trained to the honorifics of Court life, and he found 
himself making extremely funny blunders. He told us 
many stories of his adventures with the world's elect and, 
with his keen appreciation of the ridiculous and his gift of 
description, gave us as merry an afternoon as we ever spent 
with him. 

I dwell on the memory of this agreeable meeting with Mr. 
Roosevelt and the entertainment it afforded me, because by 
his manner he succeeded in convincing me that he still held 
my husband in the highest esteem and reposed in him the 
utmost confidence, and that the rumours of his antagonism 
were wholly unfounded. I was not destined to enjoy this 
faith and assurance for very long. 

In mid-July of that year we started off for a short cruise 
on the Mayflower, the only one we ever made. It is not 
really possible for the President to have a vacation, but if he 
happens to be a good sailor I know of no better way for him 
to get short intervals of rest than by boarding the Presi- 
dential yacht and steaming away, out of the reach of crowds. 

We had only a small party with us, my husband's brother, 
Mr. Horace Taft, my sister, Mrs. Louis More, Miss Mabel 

384 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Boardman and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Mr. 
Beekman Winthrop, and Mrs. Winthrop ; and Captain Butt, 
of course, was with us always. 

We headed north for the Maine coast with Eastport as 
our first stopping place. The mayor of that interesting city 
of fisheries came on board as soon as we dropped anchor, 
made a felicitous speech of welcome and proceeded to lay 
out a programme of sightseeing and festivities which would 
have kept us there for a considerable longer time than we 
could stay if it had all been carried out, and this experience 
was repeated everywhere we went. We had to decline 
everything except a motor ride about town for the purpose 
of getting a glimpse of the weir fisheries and the sardine can- 
neries, but a President doesn't visit Eastport very often, so 
the people thronging the streets made it seem quite like a 
holiday. 

Then a committee from the Island of Campo Bello, which 
lies a short distance off the coast and which is a British pos- 
session, waited upon us with an invitation to come across and 
go for a buckboard ride around a part of the island. It 
sounded like such a homely and restful form of amusement 
that Mr. Taft was sorely tempted to break the unwritten law 
which decrees that a President may not set foot outside 
United States territory, but he concluded that he had better 
not. The rest of us, however, decided to go and we had a 
jolly, jolting ride which ended at the summer home of Mrs. 
Franklin Roosevelt. 

Everywhere we went we were most delightfully enter- 
tained, finding beautiful homes and merry summer hosts at 
every port and town. At fashionable Bar Harbor we found 
a colony of friends whose winter homes are in Washington 
and Mr. Taft got some excellent golf. There were lunch- 
eons and dinners, of course, every day and everywhere, to 
say nothing of teas and large receptions, and Mr. Taft had 
to make speeches, too, and meet all the Maine politicians. 

385 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

But there were the long restful nights on the Mayflower, 
steaming along among the crags and rocks of the broken, pic- 
turesque coast, or lying at anchor in some quiet harbour with 
only the soft water sounds to break the stillness, and it 
would not have taken much persuasion to have kept me 
aboard indefinitely. 

The Mayflower is used ordinarily for official purposes in 
connection with naval reviews and other naval ceremonies, 
and at such times, with the President on board, there is a 
punctilious formality to be encountered which makes a mere 
civilian feel like a recruit under the eyes of a drill-sergeant. 
But it is very interesting. One gets so used to seeing every- 
body in uniform standing stiffly at attention as the President 
passes that one almost forgets that it isn't their natural atti- 
tude. 

And then the guns. They shake one's nerves and hurt 
one's ears, but they are most inspiring. The President's sa- 
lute is twenty-one guns. It is fired every time he sets foot on 
the deck of the Mayflower, or any other naval vessel, and 
when he passes, on the Mayflower, between the lines of naval 
vessels on review he gets it from every ship in the fleet, not 
one by one, but altogether, so I think I know what a naval 
battle sounds like. 

Shortly after we returned from our little cruise on the 
Maine Coast we received a visit from the President of Chili, 
Senor Montt, and Senora Montt. He was on his way to 
Europe, having been ordered abroad on account of ill health. 
He stopped in New York at the request of his government, 
and at Mr. Taft's invitation came to Beverly to pay his 
official respects to the President of the United States. He 
made the trip to Boston by special train and was there met 
by the Mayflower and by Captain Butt. 

President Montt was very ill indeed. On the way down 
to Beverly he had a heart attack which alarmed everybody 

386 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

and made it seem very probable that he would not be able 
to land. But he recovered sufficiently to become the most 
cheerful and confident member of the party and we found 
him and Senora Montt to be among the most delightful 
of all the distinguished visitors we had the pleasure of en- 
tertaining during our term in the Presidency. After the 
ceremonious presentation and the exchange of international 
compliments were disposed of they took luncheon with us 
and we spent several most interesting and memorable hours 
together. The members of his numerous entourage for 
whom there was no room in our modest summer cottage were 
entertained at luncheon on board by Captain Logan of the 
Mayflower and by Captain Butt. We were told afterward 
that they managed to create quite an entente cordial, toast- 
ing each other's Presidents and armies and navies and minis- 
ters and attaches and everybody else they could think of 
with great enthusiasm and gusto. Senor Montt died a week 
later just as he reached England on his health-seeking trip. 
In his death Chili lost an eminent citizen. 

Mr. Taft remained with us at Beverly, playing golf, at- 
tending to routine business, seeing the never-ending line of 
visitors and preparing speeches until September when there 
began for him one of those whirlwind seasons, so many of 
which he had lived through. With a printed itinerary in 
his pocket he was off from Boston on the third of Septem- 
ber to attend the Conservation Congress at St. Paul. With 
two speeches to be delivered, one at the Congress and one 
at the State Fair in Minneapolis, to say nothing of another 
in Chicago and numerous short speeches from the rear plat- 
form of his train, he was still back in Boston on the eighth 
to be present at an aviation meet where together we saw the 
performance of the best aviators of that day. 

A short interval of rest and he was away again to New 
Haven to attend a meeting of the Yale Corporation, then 

387 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

out to Cincinnati to the Ohio Valley Exposition and back 
to Washington as quickly as a long programme of speeches 
and hospitalities could be disposed of. 

The political skies were then beginning to cloud up in 
earnest; he had a Democratic Congress to prepare messages 
for, and I suppose the approaching winter looked anything 
but alluring to him. 

For the first time in the history of the Executive Mansion 
it was turned into a bachelors' hall during my various ab- 
sences. My husband always had one or more men staying 
with him, he would move his aides and secretaries into the 
White House, and so arrange things that my frequent de- 
sertions of him never weighed very heavily on my conscience. 

When he arrived in Washington this time he organised a 
Cabinet House Party so that Washington and the newspaper 
correspondents had something to worry about for quite a 
while. He gathered all the members of his Cabinet under 
his roof and kept them there where he could have three Cabi- 
net meetings a day besides the ones he called in the Execu- 
tive Offices. People made wild guesses at all kinds of 
crises and at all manner of important disclosures to be made, 
but it was only a house party after all. There were a great 
many problems to be solved, proposed legislative meas- 
ures to be discussed, and with every woman in the Cabinet 
off summering somewhere it was an excellent opportunity 
for the Executive branch of the Government to do extra 
work. 

The distinguished gentlemen had to "double up" in rooms, 
too, so I have often imagined that they got very little rest 
at any time. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of 
the Treasury had the southeast room; the Secretary of the 
Navy and the Secretary of the Interior had the northeast 
room ; the Attorney General and the Secretary of Commerce 
and Labour had the northwest room ; the Postmaster General 
had Robert's room; the Secretary of Agriculture had the 

388 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

housekeeper's room, and the Secretary to the President had 
my son Charlie's room. I think probably as a house party 
it was unique, but if there had been any more Departments 
of Government the President would have had to fit up a 
dormitory. 

At this point in Archie Butt's record I find the note: 
"Mrs. Taft left this morning for New York to fit her son 
Charlie out in long trousers." 

That brings up unpleasant memories. Like any sensible 
woman I never would admit that I had reached the high 
point in life as long as I had one son still in knickerbockers, 
but with one son at Yale, with a young lady daughter ready 
to be presented to society, and with Charlie going into long 
trousers I felt that the day was approaching when the un- 
happy phrase "getting on in years" might be applied to me. 

The very rapid lengthening of Charlie's legs had been a 
subject of much discussion at Beverly during the summer and 
the necessity for bestowing upon him the dignity of man- 
style garments had been manifest to everybody sometime be- 
fore I would consent to recognise it. 

One day the telephone rang and Helen answered it. A 
voice at the other end of the line said : 

"I'd like to speak to Master Charlie Taft, please." 

"Somebody wants to speak to you, Charlie," said Helen. 
Then sister-like she stood by to see who it was and what he 
could possibly want with her unimportant younger brother. 
She was surprised to hear this half of a very earnest con- 
versation : 

"Who said so?' 

"Certainly not!" 

"Well, somebody has been giving you misinformation." 

"An absolute denial." 

"Well, if you want to quote me exactly you may say that 
I said the rumour is false; wholly without foundation." 

"All right. Good-bye." 

389 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

Helen was sufficiently startled to place Charlie under 
cross-examination at once. She had visions of grave com- 
plications wherein he played the unfortunate part of a Presi- 
dent's son who had forgotten the rigid discretion exacted of 
him by the nature of his position. 

Charlie admitted that it was a reporter who had called 
him up. 

"Couldn't you tell that from the way I talked to him*?" 
said he. 

He had heard enough such conversations to have acquired 
the natural "tone," but he insisted that the subject of his 
conversation with his reporter was "purely personal" and 
had nothing whatever to do with his sister nor yet with any 
matters of high importance to the Government. 

The question had to be referred to the President, his 
father, before he would admit that the reporter wanted to 
write something about his going into long trousers. 

"And if that isn't a personal matter," said he, "I should 
like to know what is." 

To his intense delight, his "absolute denial" to the con- 
trary notwithstanding, I fitted him out, kissed my baby 
good-bye and sent a young man son off to school in his stead, 
feeling vaguely thankful that I should have until Christmas 
to get used to the thought of him before having to see 
him again. 

Shortly afterward I returned to the White House and 
to the routine of a social season. The Cabinet officers having 
all gone to their respective homes we gave the Cabinet 
Dinner with all its accustomed formalities, then came mus- 
icals, luncheons, small dinners, teas and parties of various 
sorts until near the end of the year when I introduced my 
daughter to society. 

Helen had gone out in Washington and had attended my 
entertainments during the winter of 1909 whenever she had 
been at home from college and when I was ill had even acted 

390 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

as hostess in my place at a dinner we gave for Prince and 
Princess Fushimi of Japan, but she had never "come out," 
so I gave two parties early in the winter of 1910 in honor 
of her debut. 

We began with an afternoon At Home, for which, as my 
daughter says she "got all the flowers there were in Washing- 
ton," and later I gave a ball on the night of December 30th, 
when the East Room was filled with hundreds of young 
people clamouring for "just one more dance" until two 
o'clock in the morning. 

The New Year's Reception was followed in quick succes- 
sion by the Diplomatic, Congressional, Judicial and other 
state functions; the winter passed like a dream; the Gar- 
den Party season was upon us ; then came the greatest event 
of our four years in the White House, our Silver Wedding. 

Twenty-five years married and all but a single year of 
it spent in the public service. It did not seem unfitting to me 
that this anniversary should be spent in the White House or 
that we should seek to make it an event not to be forgotten 
by anybody who happened to witness it. I thanked the 
happy fate that had given me a summer wedding-day be- 
cause I needed all outdoors for the kind of party I wanted 
to give. That silver was showered upon us until we were 
almost buried in silver was incidental; we couldn't help it; 
it was our twenty-fifth anniversary and we had to celebrate 
it. 

I am not going to try to remember or to take the trouble 
to find out how many invitations we issued. I know there 
were four or five thousand people present and that a more 
brilliant throng was never gathered in this country. 

It was a night garden party with such illuminations as are 
quite beyond description. Every tree and bush was ablaze 
with myriads of tiny coloured lights, the whole stately man- 
sion was outlined in a bright white glow ; there were strings 
of bobbing, fantastic lanterns wherever a string would go; 

39i 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

the great fountain was playing at its topmost height in 
every colour of the rainbow ; while on the gleaming point of 
the Monument and on the flag stretched in the breeze from 
the staff on the top of the White House shone the steady 
gleam of two searchlights. 

My husband and I received the almost endless line of 
guests under a large tree about midway between the South 
Portico and the fountain; the entire house was thrown open 
and was filled constantly with people seeking the refresh- 
ment tables laid in the dining rooms and vestibule. I have 
a right to be enthusiastic in my memory of that party be- 
cause without enthusiasm it could not have been given at all. 
And why should not one be frankly grateful for success 4 ? 

With the passing of another season, in no way different 
from those that went before, I come to the end of my story. 
There is another story to tell, longer and fuller, but it does 
not belong to me. It belongs to the man whose career has 
made my story worth the telling. 

After Mr. Taft was renominated, or rather after the sec- 
ond convention in Chicago when the Republican party was 
divided, I began to make plans for the future in which the 
White House played no part. I stopped reading the ac- 
counts of the bitter political contest because I found that 
the opposition newspapers made so much more impression 
on me than those that were friendly to my husband that I 
was in a state of constant rage which could do me no pos- 
sible good. 

Mr. Taft had never been subjected to bitter criticism and 
wholesale attack until his term in the Presidency and I sup- 
pose I had formed a habit of thinking that there was nothing 
to criticise him for except, perhaps, his unfortunate shortcom- 
ing of not knowing much and of caring less about the way 
the game of politics is played. Such criticism of him as 
Mr. Bryan's supporters were able to create for their use in 
1908 amounted to nothing. His record of twenty years' 

392 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

uncriticised service stood, and he stood on it. I think we 
both avoided much perturbation after we became convinced 
of the unfairness and injustice of much that was said by- 
hostile newspapers, by not reading it. Mr. Taft took much 
satisfaction from those words of Lincoln's which Mr. Nor- 
ton, his Secretary, had photographed and placed in a frame 
on his office desk: 

"If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks 
made on me this shop might as well be closed for any other 
business. I do the very best I know how — the very best I 
can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end. If the 
end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't 
amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten 
angels swearing I was right would make no difference." 

I wanted him to be re-elected, naturally, but I never en- 
tertained the slightest expectation of it and only longed for 
the end of the turmoil when he could rest his weary mind 
and get back into association with the pleasant things of 
life. Fortunately we are a family that laughs. Both Mr. 
Taft and the children manage to get some fun out of almost 
everything, and I and my matter-of-factness have afforded 
them life-long amusement. They like now to tell a story 
about me which doesn't impress me as being particularly 
funny. 

During the last campaign I was at Beverly alone a good 
part of the summer, but when Mr. Taft did join me for 
short intervals he brought Republican Headquarters with 
him, more or less, and a few political supporters were sure 
to follow for consultation with him. 

There was one good old enthusiastic friend who had al- 
ways supported him and who was then making a valiant 
fight in his behalf. And he had faith that they would win. 
He assured me they would win. He told me how they were 
going to do it, pointing out where Mr. Taft's strength lay 
and telling me how kindly the people really felt toward him. 

393 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

"Mrs. Taft, you mark my word," said he, "the President 
will be re-elected in November!" 

"Well," said I, "you may be right, but just the same I 
intend to pack everything up when I leave Beverly, and I 
shall take the linen and silver home." 

At a dinner given by the Lotos Club in New York, just 
ten days after Mr. Wilson's election in 1912, Mr. Taft 
said: 

"The legend of the lotos eaters was that if they partook 
of the fruit of the lotos tree they forgot what had happened 
in their country and were left in a state of philosophic calm 
in which they had no desire to return to it. 

"I do not know what was in the mind of your distin- 
guished invitation committee when I was asked to attend 
this banquet. They came to me before election. At first 
I hesitated to accept lest when the dinner came I should be 
shorn of interest as a guest and be changed from an active 
and virile participant in the day's doings of the Nation to 
merely a dissolving view. I knew that generally on an oc- 
casion of this sort the motive of the diners was to have a 
guest whose society should bring them more closely into con- 
tact with the great present and the future and not be merely 
a reminder of what has been. But, after further considera- 
tion, I saw in the name of your club the possibility that you 
were not merely cold, selfish seekers after pleasures of your 
own, and that perhaps you were organised to furnish con- 
solation to those who mourn, oblivion to those who would 
forget, an opportunity for a swan song to those about to 
disappear. . . . 

"The Presidency is a great office to hold. It is a great 
honour and it is surrounded with much that makes it full of 
pleasure and enjoyment for the occupant, in spite of its 
heavy responsibilities and the shining mark that it presents 
for misrepresentation and false attack. ... Of course the 

394 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS 

great and really the only lasting satisfaction that one can 
have in the administration of the great office of President is 
the thought that one has done something permanently useful 
to his fellow countrymen. The mere enjoyment of the 
tinsel of office is ephemeral, and unless one can fix one's 
memory on real progress made through the exercise of pres- 
idential power there is little real pleasure in the contempla- 
tion of the holding of that or any other office, however great 
its power or dignity or high its position in the minds of men. 
"I beg you to believe that in spite of the very emphatic 
verdict by which I leave the office, I cherish only the deepest 
gratitude to the American people for having given me the 
honour of having held the office, and I sincerely hope in 
looking back over what has been done that there is enough 
of progress made to warrant me in the belief that real good 
has been accomplished, even though I regret that it has not 
been greater. My chief regret is my failure to secure from 
the Senate the ratification of the general arbitration treaties 
with France and Great Britain. I am sure they would have 
been great steps toward general world peace. What has 
actually been done I hope has helped the cause of peace, but 
ratification would have been a concrete and substantial step. 
I do not despair of ultimate success. We must hope and 
work on." 



THE END 



395 



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